KISLOVODSK. Jan 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The recent attack on a bus between Grozny and Gudermes has been condemned by Viktor Kazantsev, the Russian presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, and Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen administration.
"This is a big trouble, and not only what happened yesterday," Kazantsev told a news conference in Kislovodsk.
Kazantsev said the system of law and order in Chechnya should be revised. "Obviously, this system should be reconsidered. The army and other defense and security structures should step back and let the police and the public deal with this," Kazantsev said.
Kadyrov said at the same news conference, in referring to the bus attack, that "lawlessness must be stopped."
In response to a question as to how the administration of Chechnya can be helped to stabilize the social situation in the republic, Kadyrov said: "Number one is not to kill people, and number two is to control the army, because such incidents go counter to presidential policy."
According to information possessed by Vakha Baibatyrov, deputy head of the Chechen representation under the Russian president, a bus carrying passengers came under fire near a federal checkpoint on January 14. The driver was killed and four passengers were wounded in the incident.
In the meantime, Akhmed Abastov, the head of the Gudermes administration, denied this information in a live program on Ekho Moskvy radio.
"We have no information that such a case occurred in the Gudermes region yesterday, the day before yesterday or today. I talked with the commandant of the Gudermes region yesterday evening and met with a top police official today and we have not heard any reports of this sort," he said.
Chechen Prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko told Interfax that the information regarding the alleged bus attack is being checked. "The law enforcement agencies have no information regarding this incident. A group of investigators has been sent to Gudermes to clarify the issue," Kravchenko said.