MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - The Khunzakh gang leader was neutralized in a counterterrorist operation in Dagestan on Sunday, the operative staff of the National Antiterrorism Committee said in a report on Monday.
"The leader of the so-called Khunzakh gang has been neutralized in Dagestan as a result of a counterterrorist operation," the staff said.
"The dead militant has been identified as Hajimurad Gajiyev put on the federal most wanted list in 2014," the NAC information center said. "He was in charge of the Khunzakh gang responsible for a number of felonies, such as the killing of a mosque imam in the Gotsatl village in 2014 and extortion of large sums of money from businessmen," NAC said.
Bomb squad officers found component parts of improvised bombs, explosives, weapons, and ammunition in the blocked house.
The operation did not entail police or civilian casualties.
The criminal was persuaded into letting a woman leave the house, NAC said.
Investigative procedures are under way.
Security services learned about the presence of an armed terrorist in a private home in the Orota village in the Khunzakh district of Dagestan in the course of investigative measures taken on Sunday, NAC said.
"Seeking to prevent terror attacks and to ensure security of the civilian population, the head of the NAC operative staff and the republican department of the Federal Security Service launched a counterterrorist operation at 6:30 p.m. Special forces of the Federal Security Service blocked the house where the militant was hiding. The area was cordoned off, and tenants of nearby homes were evacuated," NAC said.