Russian lawmaker’s body found in barrel filled with cement

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The body of a kidnapped Russian lawmaker has been found in a cement-filled barrel in a cellar outside Moscow, investigators said Monday.

“The body of Mikhail Pakhomov, a lawmaker from Lipetsk city council, has been found in one of the cellars of a private garage in a metal barrel filled with cement,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

“Investigators have gathered enough evidence to establish the violent nature of Pakhomov’s death,” it said.

Pakhomov, 37, disappeared on February 12 in the central Russian city of Lipetsk, and investigators immediately opened a probe into murder.

The interior ministry said Monday that police had detained 11 people on suspicion of committing the crime including the suspected mastermind, whom it described as a 40-year-old Muscovite.

Before the discovery of the body, the Investigative Committee had announced Sunday it was charging the former deputy minister of housing services for the Moscow region, Yevgeny Kharitonov, with ordering Pakhomov’s kidnapping. Investigators have not disclosed the motive for the apparent contract killing.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]