KHANKALA. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Three members of illegal armed groups in Chechnya have laid down their arms over the past 24 hours.
"Two active members of underground gangs turned themselves in to law enforcement agencies in the Vedeno district," federal forces spokesman Major General Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Thursday.
The rebels said the gang's leader made them attack local police patrols and take part in bandit attacks against citizens of the Vedeno district while wearing military camouflage uniform and masks, Shabalkin said.
Another member of an illegal armed group turned himself in to the authorities in the Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya, Shabalkin said. The rebel gave up his Kalashnikov assault rifle and ammunition, as well, he said.
A weapons cache was found during a search operation in Grozny that contained a DShK machine gun and ammunition, Shabalkin said. A local citizen, who had been placed on the federal wanted list for committing a bandit attack, was found in the same place and detained, he said.
Another cache containing three assault rifles and ammunition was found in a forest near the settlement of Elistanzhi in the Vedeno district, and illegal weapons were found in the possession of a citizen of the town of Argun, Shabalkin said.