MOSCOW, December 4 (Itar-Tass) — President Vladimir Putin fired director of the Investigative Committee /SK/ department for the Kirov region Maj-Gen Alexander Panov, according to the Kremlin website.
Earlier, SK chief Alexander Bastrykin had criticized Panov. He was indignant at the regional branch's decision to drop the Kirovles squandering case in which the involvement of blogger and Opposition activist Alexei Navalny was suspected. At the joint meeting of the SK board on July 5, Bastrykin, without mincing his words, criticized the Kirov region SK department.