Russia detains 12 people in connection with massacre
Moscow:
A Russian court on Friday ordered the pretrial detention of another suspect charged with “terrorism” in connection with the deadly attack at a Moscow concert hall.
Russia has detained 12 people in connection with the massacre.
They include four men accused of gunning down dozens of concertgoers and then setting fire to the Krokus town hall grounds last week in Russia’s worst attack in two decades.
Moscow’s Basman District Court said on Friday it had ordered Tajik citizen Nazrimad Lutfulloi to be held in pretrial detention until May 22.
Of the 12 people arrested by Russian authorities, nine have been held in pre-trial detention. The other three have not had any updates yet.
The suspect faces life in prison.
The Islamic State (IS) group has repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on European soil.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin claims Ukraine has ties to the West.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said there was evidence that “Ukrainian nationalists” were behind the attack and financed the gunmen with cryptocurrency payments from Ukraine.
It did not provide details of the charges.
On Friday, it claimed that the attackers received orders from an unidentified coordinator via the Telegram messaging app and that the gunman planned to flee to Ukraine to collect the reward.
Ukraine and Western countries have repeatedly denied the claims, accusing Moscow of trying to exploit the tragedy for its own ends.
Russia’s health minister said on Friday that another victim died in hospital, bringing the death toll from the attack to 144.
Islamic State released its latest statement on Friday claiming responsibility for the attack, saying four members were arrested following the attack.
The group said in the latest edition of its Al-Nabaa weekly, published on the Telegram channel on Friday, that its militants had been hunted down and captured by ground and air forces.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
