DUSHANBE, June 24, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Zokirjon Khidirov, 29, was found dead with several bullet wounds in his house in the village Obodon, some 60 kilometers to the west of Dushanbe.

The source at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) says examination has established that Khidirov was killed from assault rifle Kalashnikov in the early morning of Friday.  “Four bullets of a 7.62 mm caliber and one cartridge case of the same caliber were found at the scene of killing” he said.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted and an investigation is under way.

According to the Interior Ministry data, 610 firearms, including 144 assault rifles, 103 pistols, 104 rifles, 59 grenade launchers, and a large amount of hand grenades and other ammunition have been confiscated or surrendered to police stations across the country over the first five months of this year under the ongoing weapons collection.

The campaign to urge people to surrender weapons was launched in December 1994.  Since then, some 34,000 weapons have reportedly been confiscated or handed over to police stations.