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Experienced investigators join Chita murder probe

The victims were shot from a 7.62 SKS carbine

CHITA, May 28 (Itar-Tass) - Forensic experts from the central office of the Investigative Committee will help their Baikal region colleagues to investigate the murder of four persons whose bodies were found in a house in the village of Peschyanka in suburban Chita, spokesman for the regional department of the Investigative Committee Yegor Markov told Itar-Tass.

"The victims were shot from a 7.62 SKS carbine. The investigators, together with police, checked the owners of hunting rifles who live in Peschyanka, and retrieved them for comparative expert examination.

The investigators ascertained the identities of the victims. "The women are two residents of Chita, aged 17 and 29; the men are a 37-year-old resident of Peschyanka and a 20-year-old native of a Central Asia republic. His 30-year-old fellow countryman is a critical condition in a Chita hospital," Markov said.

The women worked as waitresses in a local cafe. The two natives of Uzbekistan worked at a construction site, and the 37-year-old resident of Peschanka was unemployed. Police will look into the legitimacy of the Uzbeks' staying in Russia.

Police said the house in which the murder had been committed, had been rented. Preliminary inspection of the scene of crime found several shell casings and fragments of bullets. "Investigators will run several expert examinations. The victims' bodies have been sent to a forensic lab. Police are ascertaining witnesses of the crime," according to the spokesman.

The team of investigators includes personnel who handle particularly serious cases. It is led by head of the SK committee for the Baikal region Gennady Podznoyev. The criminal case was opened over the "murder of two or more persons."

According to Markov, the SK will check the version of a conflict between the Uzbeks, natives and the women's friends. The SK promised a reward for the information about the murder.