DUSHANBE, July 23, 2012, Asia-Plus – In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda noted on July 23 that criminal proceedings over the killing of General-Major Abdullo Nazarov, the chief of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s office in Gorno Badakhshan, have been instituted under the provisions of three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 104 (2) – murder of a person in connection with his/her professional activities; Article 199 (4) – weapon stealage; and Article 328 (2) – use of violence against a representative of authorities.

“Nobody has yet been detained over the murder of Major-General Abdullo Nazarov, Tajik chief prosecutor said, adding that a special group, led by the Deputy Main Military Prosecutor, Khairullo Saidov, is investigating the incident.

Asked about the possible motives for the crime, Sherkhon Salimzoda said that tobacco smuggling could be a possible motive for the killing of general Nazarov.