KHANTY-MANSIISK. March 14 (Interfax) - The prosecutor's office of Surgut in Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous district has started checking media reports about an incident involving the police.
"The district prosecutor bound the prosecutor of Surgut to organize a check of media reports of an incident that allegedly took place in a Muslim cafe between police officers and migrants from former Soviet republics. The incident has not been confirmed yet," senior assistant to the prosecutor for media relations Inga Snatkina told Interfax.
She also said that if the unlawfulness of police actions is proved, the findings of the probe will be sent to investigative bodies for a legal assessment.
The police in Surgut have also launched a check of the media reports of police abuses.
They say on March 3 a mobile task force conducted a raid in Surgut to identify illegal immigrants.
"Besides this, at a meeting with public representatives chief of the Surgut police said that the reports will be checked and if the wrongdoings of the officers are confirmed, the police are ready to apologize," the press release says.
Earlier media reports said quoting witnesses, that armed men in OMON riot police uniforms on March 3 burst into a cafe near the local mosque and made three customers shave off their beards. They also detained several customers and took them to a police station for a check of IDs. Later the detainees were released.