QURGHON TEPPA, April 24, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Tajik law enforcement authorities say that Russian national who was shot by Tajik police in Khatlon’s Panj district on April 23 was going to travel to Afghanistan to participate in jihad.

We will recall that Tajik Interior Ministry’s website reported that armed Russian national Semyon Nagibin, nicknamed Salim, was shot by police in the Panj district on April 23 while resisting detention.

An official source at the Interior Ministry’s office in Khatlon province says that for the first time Nagibin was detained in the Panj district on April 15.  “He was wounded in the leg while resisting arrest,” said the source.  “He was taken for treatment to Panj central district hospital.  During the initial questioning, Nagibin said he was going to cross into Afghanistan to participate in jihad.”

“Nagibin’s wound was not so serious and he was supposed to be discharged from the hospital within the next few days but Nagibin escaped from the hospital,” the source said, noting that Nagibin was shot by local police on April 23 while resisting detention.

Meanwhile, Russian news agency TASS reports an operation for detention of Semyon has been carried out by Tajik police at the request of the Russian law enforcement authorities.  Nagibin, 28, was reportedly convicted of robbery in 2013 and after release from prison he was kept under surveillance of police.  Nagibin reportedly fled to Tajikistan in November 2014.

“Russian colleagues asked us to detain Nagibin and extradite him to Russia,” representative of the Tajik Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by TASS.  “On April 15, Nagibin was wounded while resisting detention.  He was taken to a hospital for treatment.  Nagibin escaped from the hospital in a week disarming police officers.”