YEKATERINBURG, Russia -- The leader of the Kyrgyz diaspora in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Kamchybek Karimov, has been shot dead by unknown assailants, according to Kyrgyz authorities.
A representative of the Kyrgyz Embassy in Russia, Gulbarchyn Baiymbetova, confirmed Karimov's death and said the Kyrgyz Consulate in Yekaterinburg is looking into the matter.
Matmyrza Bolotbekov, a member of the Kyrgyz Congress in Russia who resides in Yekaterinburg, told RFE/RL on July 3 that Karimov was shot near his apartment block late in the afternoon of July 2 and that police are investigating.
Aleksandr Shulga of the Investigative Committee's branch in Yekaterinburg told journalists that the motive of Karimov's attackers was most likely to obtain a large sum of money he was carrying in a bag.
The attackers were unable to take away the bag after several people rushed to the site when they heard the gunshots, Shulga said, adding that the bag held about 19 million rubles ($300,000).
The press secretary of the Interior Ministry's directorate in the Sverdlovsk region, Valery Gorelykh, said the acting chief of the regional police, Vladimir Mironov, has taken the investigation under his personal control.
Karimov had led the Kyrgyz diaspora in the Urals city since 2012, where he lived with his wife and three children.
Leader Of Kyrgyz Diaspora In Russia's Yekaterinburg Shot Dead
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