Russian investigators say they have detained three men from Central Asia whom they suspect of being behind the murder of a high-ranking police officer's family in Syzran on April 24, Russian media reported Monday.
Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said that the suspects, whose identities were not disclosed, will be charged with murder and robbery.
Andrei Gosht, the 49-year-old deputy chief of staff of the Samara's regional Interior Department, and five members of his family were killed in their sleep by blunt force blows. The policeman's 7-year-old niece survived and was hospitalized.
The policeman's colleagues said they suspected that his murder was connected to his work, the Kommersant newspaper reported. The investigators now say that robbery may be a possible motive, because money and possessions were taken from the house.
The men behind the killing may have been hired by a third party — they reportedly took the policeman's ID, which was later found at one of the suspect's houses. The ID could have served as evidence that they had killed the policeman.
Russia's Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev announced a reward of 3 million rubles ($46,000) for information on the attackers shortly after the killing. Twenty-five investigators and specialists are working on solving the murder, according to Kommersant.
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