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SK sends experts to Buryatia to investigate village gunfight

Markin said on Wednesday a majority of the participants in the Buryatia fight were criminals

MOSCOW, January 12 (Itar-Tass) — Forensic experts of the central office of the Investigative Committee (SK) have been sent to Buryatia to provide assistance to their colleagues in investigating the murder of an Ulan-Ude resident and a shootout in a wood near the village of Zhemchug, SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

"At the instruction of the SK leadership, experienced forensic experts of the SK central office have been sent to Buryatia to provide practical assistance in investigating the criminal case over the murder of a 21-year-old Ulan-Ude resident, committed during a shootout between two groups," Markin said.

Markin said on Wednesday a majority of the participants in the Buryatia fight were criminals.

"It was ascertained in the course of investigation that a majority of the participants in the conflicts were criminals; of those, a number of Zhemchug residents had been hiding from the investigators," the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the investigators had established the cause of the conflict.

"In August, two residents of the Tunkinsky district /one of them lived in the village of Kyren, and the other in the village of Zhemchug/ had a row which escalated to a fight. Later, the Kyren resident, assisted by his acquaintances from the criminal underworld, including those living in Ulan Ude, demanded that the Zhemchug villager pay him money as compensation.

The Zhemchug resident initially agreed to pay. On January 6, a group of armed young people from Ulan Ude, together with several local residents of the Tunkinsky district, met with the Zhemchug resident to collect the money. "During the meeting, the man refused to pay, and called his fellow villagers for help; most of them had criminal convictions," he said.

Taking firearms, the Zhemchug villagers caught up with the young visitors at the crossroads of the Kultuk-Monday highway. They began to shoot at each other, and a Zhemchug resident fired a fatal shot in the back of a 21-year-old man. Three more participants in the conflict were wounded.

At present, the investigators are questioning the persons involved in the conflict to ascertain all the circumstances of the crime. "Searches have been conducted and a number of expert examinations will be carried out to ascertain the location of weapon caches," Markin added.