Police have detained a deputy governor in the Ural Mountains region of Chelyabinsk, a news report said, just weeks after bribery charges were brought against another Russian governor in the Far East.
The Chelyabinsk regional administration has declined to provide details on the Thursday detention of Deputy Governor Nikolai Sandakov, but insisted that his boss had been informed about the ongoing investigation, the TASS news agency reported.
"Governor Boris Dubrovsky was in the know about all the measures that preceded today's event," spokesman Oleg Grishankov was quoted as saying.
An unidentified law enforcement official said Sandakov was detained on suspicion of bribe-taking, TASS reported.
The detention comes on the heels of a scandal earlier this month, when Sakhalin Governor Alexander Khoroshavin was charged with large-scale bribery involving an energy company.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin fired Khoroshavin this week.
Tabloid LifeNews, which allegedly has close ties with security services, reported that the case against Sandakov was related to an ongoing investigation against former Chelyabinsk senator, Konstantin Tsybko.
Tysbko, a former member of the Federation Council accused of taking large-scale bribes, became the first Russian senator to be stripped of legislative immunity last June.
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