PYATIGORSK, August 20. /TASS/. A deputy imam has been shot dead in the Stavropol Territory in the North Caucasian, local Muslim clerics said on Thursday.

The body was found on August 20 morning, and police are conducting the investigation. The 32-year old deputy imam, murdered near his house, was teaching children the Quran and the Arabic language.

The murdered cleric, who had a wife and four underage children, "was a proactive religious and public figure," the local Muftiate said.