Chief of Aslan Maskhadov's bodyguard is in grave condition

Shaa Turlayev, chief of President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov's bodyguard captured in late March in the village of Gansol-Chu, Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt village, is still in a hospital in the town of Gudermes.

The official version is that the 35-year-old security guard of the Chechen separatists' leader voluntarily surrendered to the authorities "having decided to break with his criminal past and return to peaceful life." However, it somewhat contradicts the reality. Officers of Akhmat Kadyrov's security service have been conducting large-scale special operations in the mountain Nozhay-Yurt district of Chechnya for the second month already. One of these operations resulted in the capture of Shaa Turlayev, commander of the Ichkerian North-Eastern Front and chief of Aslan Maskhadov's bodyguard. The field commander was blocked in a house in the village of Gansol-Chu where he was undergoing treatment for wounds received in a combat with Russian soldiers.

"The house that Shaa stayed in was encircled by a group of Kadyrov's people led by the former commander of Maskhadov's presidential guards, Artur Akhmadov. Shaa and two his friends decided not to put up armed resistance. It happened after Akhmadov had promised to release over 20 close relatives of Turlayev which were detained in the second half of March and were held in custody in Gudermes," said Turlayev's close friends. Shaa Turlayev was in grave condition and was immediately taken to the hospital in Gudermes.

Many residents of the republic hold that recently, Kadyrov's people have been actively introducing the practice to take relatives of Chechen commanders hostages compelling those commanders to "voluntarily give themselves up" for the sake of saving their close people's lives.

Editors note: See also the article "Chief of Aslan Maskhadov's bodyguard surrenders to federal forces".