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5 Uzbeks Charged With Taxi Abductions, Killings

A group of Uzbeks who allegedly abducted and killed women while posing as taxi operators will be tried by a Moscow court. Andrei Makhonin

A gang of five Uzbeks who abducted, robbed and killed several women after luring them into a gypsy cab will be tried in Moscow, the Prosecutor General's Office said.

The group would typically rove the streets at night looking for women in need of a taxi, prosecutors said Wednesday in a statement.

After spotting a target, all the assailants would exit the car except the driver, who would agree on a destination and price to lure the victim inside.

Then the rest of the men would jump back into the car and overpower the victim, prosecutors said.

The gang would attack women even without a car, selecting lone targets on quiet deserted streets, the statement said.

The men reportedly used fake driver's licenses, registration and passports, as well as a variety of piercing and cutting devices as weapons.

The first killing linked to the gang occurred on June 9, 2010.

The gang has been charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery, intentional infliction of bodily harm, abduction, drug possession and forgery.

The defendants have been identified as 24-year-old Khushnud Turakulov, 20-year-old Abdugani Ganiyev, 21-year-old Dilshod Dzhurayev, 27-year-old Iskandar Rakhmatov and 23-year-old Sukhrob Radzhabov.

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