GROZNY. Dec 14 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen police officers have detained two militants during a search at the Chervlyonnaya railway terminal, acting Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax on the phone.
One of the detainees had been wanted as a subordinate of separatist leader Shamil Basayev, he added.
Later, tipped off by the detainees, law enforcers discovered a secret arms depot containing anti-tank man-portable grenade-launchers, Kalashnikov assault rifles, rounds for anti-tank and rifle-mounted grenade-launchers, and over 800 cartridges for small arms.
Two sets of car license plates and a notebook with codes and records of expenses were also found.
The probe continues into the possible involvement of the detainees in crimes committed in Chechnya.
Meanwhile, the police in Kizlyar have detained Zaurbek Yakuyev who is known for active involvement in illegal armed operations, the press service of the Chechen Interior Ministry told Interfax on Tuesday.
During an interrogation he named the location of a secret depot with arms, ammunition, camouflage uniforms, masks, cipher gooks and other equipment.
One more arms and ammunition depot was seized in the Gudermes district containing one assault rifle, two grenade-launchers, 11 rounds for a grenade-launcher, 11 grenades and over 2,000 cartridges for small arms.
Two militants from the group of Doku Umarov were detained in Chechnya on Monday, spokesman for the regional headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus Major General Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Tuesday.
He said that the militants had taken part in the August 16, 2002 armed attack on a federal convoy in the Urus-Martan district in which several servicemen were wounded.
In Grozny, law enforcers prevented several acts of terrorism defusing land mines in different parts of the city, Shabalkin said. The land mines were taken to a safe place and destroyed, and now efforts are under way to track and detain the persons who planted them, he said.