ALMATY. July 20 (Interfax) - The Almaty police department has explained a special operation held in the city with the need to search the residence of the terrorist who killed six people.
"An inquiry into the illegal actions of Kulikbayev uncovered a rented apartment where the defendant lived lately. Police thought there might be forbidden items, including those dangerous for the public, in that apartment," police department press secretary Saltanat Azirbek said at a press briefing in Almaty on Wednesday.
Maximal public security precautions were taken during the operation: tenants of the apartment building were evacuated and the area around it was cordoned off, she said.
"No forbidden items were found during the search of the rented apartment," Azirbek said.
The police operation in Almaty has come to an end, the press service of the city police department said.
"The investigative operation is now over. Information of a criminal nature was verified. It was not confirmed," the police said.
An ex-convict and follower of Salafism, Ruslan Kulikbayev, attacked the building of the Almalinsky district police department and the city department of the National Security Committee in Almaty on Monday. Six people, including four police officers, were shot and killed. The assailant was wounded and taken into custody. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called Kulikbayev's actions a terror attack.
It became known on Wednesday that Almaty police were holding an investigative operation.