MOSCOW, December 6 (Itar-Tass) — The main murder theory of an anchorman of a branch of the television channel of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Kazbek Gekkiyev in Nalchik is linked with his professional activities, and the murder can be taken as a threat to other journalists in Kabardino-Balkaria that are reporting about the struggle against the gangs, spokesman for the Russian Investigation Committee Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
“At the present moment it can be said that the main theory is linked with Gekkiyev’s professional activities and (the detectives) take this audacious crime as a threat against other journalists, who are reporting about the results of the struggle against the gangs, which are rampaging in the republic,” Markin noted.
“A telling detail that the suspects made sure before the murder that Gekkiyev is a journalist and an anchorman of a news program that just confirms the priority version of the detectives,” he explained.
The killers shot down Gekkiyev, 28, who worked in the daily news program News of Kabardino-Balkaria at about 21:00 Moscow time on Wednesday in Kirov Street, when he was on the way home after the evening news program. The journalist died of wounds instantaneously.
Markin noted that three gunshots were made in the man. The 9-mm cartridge shells were found at the murder scene.
“The detectives scheduled the scope of necessary expertises and the results of the ballistic expertise had already been achieved, according to which the gunshots in Gekkiyev were made from a converted gun of unidentified type,” Markin noted.
The Russian Investigation Committee dispatched the team of experienced criminal detectives from the central staff of the agency in Nalchik, the case files were submitted in the main investigation department of the Russian Investigation Committee in the North Caucasus Federal District.
Active investigative measures, which are aimed at finding and detaining the criminals, who committed this crime, are being taken.
The extremists have earlier threatened to kill two other anchormen of the VGTRK branch and the directorate was to withdraw them from the live broadcasting.