Investigators Request Arrest of Five Suspects in Nemtsov's Murder

Russian Investigative Committee requested arrest of five persons involved in the murder of Boris Nemtsov.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's Investigative Committee is requesting permission to arrest five people on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, the committee's spokesman said Sunday.

"The Investigative Committee seeks the arrest of five persons involved in the murder of Boris Nemtsov. The investigation is continuing," Vladimir Markin wrote on his Twitter page.

Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev were detained early Saturday in connection with Nemtsov's assassination. Later in the day, reports emerged that two more alleged accomplices from southern Russia's Caucasus region have been apprehended. One of the detained, according to the region's Republic of Ingushetia Security Council spokesman, was Gubashev's younger brother.

The spokesman added that Dadayev served as deputy commander of one of the Chechen Republic Ministry of Internal Affairs battalion units, while Gubashev worked in a private security firm in Moscow.

Nemtsov, 55, who once held high positions in the Russian government in the late 1990s, was fatally shot in central Moscow late last Friday.

Shortly after the tragedy, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service to set up a joint team to investigate the murder. Investigators have been pursuing several motives behind Nemtsov's murder, including possible links to the Ukrainian crisis, contract killing or business-related disputes.