PYATIGORSK/MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - Rustam Makhmudov, the suspected murderer of Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya, was detained in Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan district on Tuesday morning, a North Caucasus law enforcement source told Interfax.
"Makhmudov was detained in the early morning at one of the addresses in the republic's Achkhoi-Martan district," the source said.
Very soon the Politkovskaya murder suspect will be moved to Moscow, he said. "Over the next few hours, Makhmudov will be flown to Moscow where he will be questioned as a suspect," the source said.
Meanwhile, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper has denied receiving any formal notice about Makhmudov's arrest.
"We have not yet received any official notification on this matter, but judging by a number of facts obtained from our sources, one may conclude that it really happened," Novaya Gazeta editor Sergei Sokolov told Interfax on Tuesday.
"If he was really detained, then that is certainly a success," he said, commenting on the event.
"The only thing that makes us wonder is how he was able to get back to Russia, if he was on the international wanted list," Sokolov said.