KULOB, February 23, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- A 20 year-old resident of the city of Kulob, Mirzorahim Sabzali, and a 19-year-old resident of the Roudaki district, Farrukh Davlatov, have been detained in the city of Kulob on suspicion of having committed a number of thefts in the area, Lieutenant-Colonel Sharif Shamsiyev, deputy chief of the Kulob police department, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, they allegedly committed 16 thefts at sales outlets in the Kulob district in one night.  Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Sabzali and Davlatov under the provisions of Article 244 (theft).

“In the meantime, their three partners in crime committed nine thefts in the Vose district,” Shamsiyev said, noting that Sabzali was the leader of that criminal group.  All of them have previous convictions and were released recently under the amnesty law, he added.