MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti) - Police
investigating the murder of the former deputy mayor of Grozny,
the capital of Chechnya, are treating his death as a contract
killing, a law enforcement source said on Thursday.
Gilani Shepiyev, 36, was shot dead near the entrance to
his home in Moscow at around 1:00 a.m. (22:00 GMT). The killer
shot Shepiyev twice with a gun fitted with a silencer before
making his escape along with an accomplice in a car.
"The killing is a contract murder and is directly linked
to the victim's former activities," the source said. A criminal
case has been opened and an investigation is underway.
The killed Chechen top official was responsible for
supervising law enforcement agencies in the troubled North
Caucasus republic between 2004 and 2006. He moved to Moscow
after he was seriously injured in an attack in central Grozny
in 2006.