"The militants were members of the bandit groups of Khambiyev, Turlayev and Aidamirov who surrendered to the law enforcement bodies in March-April this year," a spokesman for the Regional Operative Staff said.
According to him, the talks on the surrender were conducted with militants by the officers of the Security Service of the president of Chechnya and the Federal Security Service's republican department.
The source said that in the militants' words the decision to surrender was taken by them after they had talked with their relatives and watched on local TV their former commanders Khambiyev and Aidamirov calling on them to lay down their arms.
At present the militants are being checked for their involvement in grave crimes.
The former head of the "special department of Ichkeria," Boris Aidamirov gave himself up to the law enforcement bodies on March 10, former "defense minister of Ichkeria" Magomed Khambiyev surrendered on March 7, and Shaa Turlayev, former head of the personal guard of leader of Chechen separatists Aslan Maskhadov, - on April 2. Ichkeria is how Chechen separatists call Chechnya.
