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Chechen war continues in Moscow suburb
Two Chechens picked exactly the wrong time, the wrong place and the wrong person for their attempted heist on a cash exchange near Moscow last Wednesday. 21-year-old cash in transit officer Andrei Kotenkov, having recently returned from Chechnya where he did his military service, also receiving a medal for courage, did not hesitate in returning fire on the Chechen robber who had shot his colleague whilst trying to rob the exchange office they had just collected the takings from in Istra near Moscow. The failed heist occurred when the security officers were collecting the dayâs takings. As the 45-year-old cash collector was returning to the security van, a young man of southern appearance fired at him three times, hitting him once in the shoulder, and lightly wounding him in the neck. The veteran Kotenkov fired back, as the robber turned and ran towards the car where his partner in crime was waiting for him. However he was not quite as lucky as the security officer, as the bullet hit him squarely in the back.
| "Shucks, Igor! This is like being back in Grozny!" |
The police were immediately informed of the incident, and quite amazingly the operation to apprehend the second criminal was successful, as several minutes after the attack traffic police stopped the car at a check point after seeing the vehicleâs description on the wanted list. The driver was apparently driving slowly along the road looking for his wounded friend.
| "Tall young feller? Dark hair, olive complexion? Got a hole in his back and knobs all over his head?" Yeah. I think I mighta seen him..." |
Both of the robbers were natives of Grozny, and local investigators have serious grounds for the assumption that one of the criminals fought against federal troops in Chechnya. Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the two may have been involved in other armed attacks on exchange offices in Moscow region.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-11-04 |
