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FSB confirms brother of St. Petersburg metro blast suspect detained

On April 17, the Russian Federal Security Service detained one of the suspected organizers of the terrorist attack in the St. Petersburg subway on April 3

© Anton Vaganov/TASS

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Akram Azimov, the elder brother of Abror Azimov, a suspect plotter of the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg’s metro system, has been detained, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

"Within the criminal case opened over an act of terror in St. Petersburg’s metro system on April 3, Russia’s Federal Security Service detained born in 1988, the elder brother of the suspect organizer of the investigating crime Abror Azimov, in Moskovsky district near Moscow on April 19," the FSB public relations center said.

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Azimov is suspected of assisting in money transfers using his ties with envoys of terrorist organizations, it said.

"It has been established that Akram Azimov assisted in transferring the money, which was used while making preparations for the attack, and helped establish contacts with envoys of terrorist organizations," the statement reads.

Azimov carried a hand grenade at the moment of his detention, IC spokesman Svetlana Petrenko said. His role in the terrorist attack is being established and a request for his arrest will be presented to court soon.

© FSB public relations center

"Akram Azimov was detained in Moscow. He carried a live hand grenade RGD-5," Petrenko said. "Questioning is in progress. The investigators are to find out his role in the attack and other relevant information. A court will be asked for remanding him in custody."

Petrenko confirmed that Akram Azimov, 29, had become a tenth person involved in the St. Petersburg metro blast case.

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"The Investigative Committee’s special investigations department is pushing ahead with its probe into the criminal case, opened over the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg’s metro that happened on April 3. There are ten names on the lists of suspected accomplices at the moment."

The investigators have established the complicity of Akram Azimov, the elder brother of Abror Azimov, who was detained earlier. Akram is a Russian citizen, too.

"Efforts to identify the organizers of the terrorist attack and other accomplices are continuing," Petrenko said. On April 17, the Russian Federal Security Service detained one of the suspected organizers of the terrorist attack in the St. Petersburg subway on April 3.

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