MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) - Three students from the Moscow State University of Physical Education and Sports, 21-year-old Aslan Abdulkadyrov, 21-year-old Makhmud Gabibov and 20-year-old Annoi Akhmedov, all three Dagestani natives, have been held in Moscow on suspicion of attempted murder.
The students were detained not far from the Park Kultury subway station during efforts to thwart possible inter-ethnic riots, a law enforcement source said.
Police officers were responding to a call from members of the public who claimed to have witnessed an unprovoked attack by three young men on another young man. One of the assailants shot the victim from a non-lethal gun.
The victim was a 25-year-old engineer from the Paritet company, Denis Zimin. He was hospitalized with severe injuries.
The assailants have been detained.
An MR-79 taser gun has been seized from Akhmedov.
Investigators for Moscow's Central Administrative District have launched a criminal case on charges of attempted murder and unruly behavior.
The detained are due to be indicted shortly, the source said.
If investigators find that the attack was motivated by racial hatred and ethnic animosity, more serious criminal charges will be brought against all three, the source said.