GROZNY. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Chechen administration on Monday filed an official protest with the authorities of the neighboring Ingush autonomous republic citing violations of the Chechen administrative border and commitment of crimes in Chechnya by residents of the Ingush republic.
The Chechen statement says that "the Ingush Interior Ministry moved some of its border checkpoints deeper into the Nadterechny district without coordinating the issue with the Chechen party. As a result the Ingush party gained control over an oil well producing over 80t of oil every day."
Moreover, Chechen law-enforcement agencies have found out that Ingush residents are stealing agricultural equipment from the district and cutting valuable types of wood. According to the Nadterechny district's police department, 11 tractors have been stolen from farms. Chechen law-enforcement agencies have data on criminals but the Ingush police do not permit their detention.
The statement contains other facts "of Ingushetia's interference in Chechnya's domestic affairs." For example, administrative maps that have been recently published on order of the Ingush government include several Chechen villages in the Ingush republic. Among those villages are Goragorsky with 7,500 inhabitants and Komarovo with 2,500 inhabitants.
The Chechen authorities demand that the Ingush party put an end to such cases. "Administrative borders of the two regions must stay where they were before 1934," the Chechen administration says.
Sources in the Chechen government said "the republic's leadership fears that the North Caucasus will see a new territorial conflict similar to the one that happened between Ingushetia and North Ossetia in 1992 and resulted in many years on destabilization in the region."