ASTANA, June 19 (Itar-Tass) — The eleven deserters who left, without permission, the Tersayryk border post in Kazakhstan have been found, the Kazakh border service reported on Tuesday.
“A search team found all the eleven servicemen near the settlement of Zhanatalap in East Kazakhstan region at 13:40 local time (11:40 Moscow time) on June 19,” the press service said.
Currently, they are being driven back to the borderpost.
According to earlier reports, the servicemen, who were drafted in November 2011, left the border post early on Monday. “The chief of the post first tried to organize the search, so he reported the incident only in the evening,” the press service said.
“According to preliminary data, the servicemen left the post because of frequent hazing incidents,” the press service said. The military prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case.
This is a second serious incident at Kazakhstan’s border post in recent months. In late May, burnt bodies of 14 border guards and a forest ranger were found at the Arkankergen border post in the Almaty region. A serviceman from the same post is suspected of the murder.