Police hunting for information on one of the St. Petersburg terror attack suspects say they have found “no trace” that the man ever existed.
Law enforcement officials in Tajikistan have been unable to find any record of Sodik Ortikov in his supposed hometown of Kurgan-Tube.
"We have not yet found a single fact that confirms he was born here, or that he studied or worked in the city," a source in the Tajik Prosecutor General's Office told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Ortikov was arrested on April 7 in the Odintsovo area of the Moscow region.
Police report that he had been in contact with St. Petersburg bomber Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, and that a pistol and two grenades were found in his home.
Ortikov has been charged with causing death via a terrorist act and with illegally acquiring explosives. He denies all allegations.
On April 3, 16 people were killed when a homemade explosive detonated in the St. Petersburg metro system. More than 50 people were also injured.
A total of 10 individuals have been arrested in the case so far.
