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Suspects detained in brutal murder of police officer, his family in southern Russia

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the murder and to find other persons behind the crime

MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/. Several suspects in the killing of deputy chief of Samara Region police in southern Russia and his family have been detained, the official spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Sunday.

"A number of suspects were detained on the territory of the Samara Region as a result of thoroughly planned events on April 30 and overnight to May 1," Vladimir Markin said, adding that charges against them will be brought soon.

The suspects in the killing of six people and the attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl were found in a joint operation carried out by the Interior Ministry and Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Markin said.

In the morning of April 24, six persons - two men and four women - were found murdered in a private house in the village of Ivashevka in Syzran district of the Samara region. One of the men was identified as Andrei Gosht, a deputy chief of the Samara region interior headquarters. The others were members of his family.

Gosht and his family were attacked while sleeping and died from head trauma caused by a blunt weapon, the Investigative Committee reported. The survivor girl, the police officer’s niece, was taken to hospital in serious condition.

A criminal case was opened into the murder of two or more people and an attempted murder.

A group consisting of more than 25 investigators and forensic experts was set up to investigate the crime. The effort also involved polygraph examiners and psychologists. Several dozen searches were conducted and a large number of witnesses were questioned, Markin said.

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the murder and to find other persons behind the crime.