October 2, 2001

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At 7 o'clock in the morning in the village of Gekhi, employees of the VOVD of the Urus-Martan district carried out an inspection of the Sulimanovs' household. Standing nearby, cousins Rustam Salaevich Eskerkhanov, born in 1973, and Raslambek Uvaisovich Eskerkhanov, born in 1965, watched what was happening. They lived in the same village on Gvardeiskaya Street. Looking around, one of them noticed that another group of “security officers” was approaching them. Rustam did not have a passport with him: he left it at home. After consulting, the brothers decided to go into the courtyard of the house and wait there until the police passed by. As soon as they moved, shots rang out. Rustam Eskerkhanov stopped and raised his hands, and Raslambek Eskerkhanov got scared and ran. The shooting continued at him. He was wounded and fell. A policeman ran up to him and asked: “Goat, why did you run?” Without letting any of the villagers near the brothers, law enforcement officers detained both of them and took them away towards the district center.

At the place where Raslambek Eskerkhanov fell, a large pool of blood remained. Taking Rustam Eskerkhanov’s passport with them, the relatives went to Urus-Martan. There, the VOVD told them that they didn’t know; what power structure carried out the operation in Gekhi. Relatives of the Eskerkhanovs contacted the regional FSB Directorate of the Russian Federation for the Chechen Republic. But even here they did not admit that the people were taken away by their employees. Nevertheless, the heads of these law enforcement agencies were informed of the crime committed. If necessary, the relatives promised to deliver Rustam Eskerkhanov’s passport and other documents.

After that, they went to the Urus-Martan regional hospital, suggesting that the wounded Raslambek Eskerkhanov could have been taken there. But he wasn’t there either.

The relatives once again visited the VOVD and filed a statement in which they asked to establish the whereabouts of their cousins and release them. The statement emphasized that nothing illegal had been done. They were still in front of the police department building when information came from the village of Gekhi about the discovery of the corpses of Rustam and Raslambek Eskerkhanov on the outskirts of the village near the cemetery.

Relatives of those killed have repeatedly appealed to the district prosecutor's office with a request to initiate a criminal case and conduct an effective investigation into the crime committed. But under the pretext that it was supposedly not a murder, but the neutralization of the Eskerkhanovs, who were trying to attack a car with policemen, they were refused. In other words, an attempt was made to falsify the circumstances of the incident. Still vague fears on this score were finally confirmed on January 26, 2002, when relatives of the murdered once again visited the district prosecutor's office. There they were given a copy of the resolution to terminate the criminal case dated October 3, 2001. It stated in particular:

“Investigator of the prosecutor's office of the Urus-Martan district of the Chechen Republic, Jr. Counselor of Justice Gallyamov K.B., having examined the materials of criminal case No. 25122, ESTABLISHED:

03.10.2001, at about 4 o’clock in the area of the rural cemetery of the village of Gekhi, Urus-Martanovsky district of the Chechen Republic, a group of employees of the VOVD of the Urus-Martanovsky district of the Chechen Republic on a KamAZ vehicle, consisting of the head of the ESD of the Urus-Martan VOVD A. A. Aimetov, o/u ESD VOVD Sadyghova I.S., Legaev V.V. and policeman driver Vildanov R.K., during operational search activities to identify and detain members of an illegal armed formation when leaving Gekhi, was fired upon by unknown persons from automatic weapons. In accordance with the developing situation, the police returned fire and the attack was repelled with targeted shots. Additional forces were sent to the scene. After dawn, an additional inspection of the area was carried out and the corpses of two unknown men with gunshot wounds were found 50 meters from the road. An AK-74 assault rifle, 5.45 mm, No. 843013925, an empty magazine and spent cartridges of 5.45 mm caliber were found next to the dead. A passport, series 1-OZH 665749, in the name of Eskerkhanov Raslambek Uvaisovich, born 05/07/1065, a native of the village of Gekhi, Urus-Martan district, registered in Grozny, Luxemburg street, was found and seized from one of the victims in his trouser pocket. 30-75, a foil paper bag with a powdery substance weighing 0.23 g, which, according to the conclusion of the physical and chemical examination No. 428 of October 12, 2001, is a narcotic drug - heroin. The second person killed was Eskarkhanov (as in the text - Comp.) Rustam Sapaevich, born in 1973, who lived at 25 Gvardeyskaya Street, Gekhi village, Urus-Martan district.
Based on the materials of the criminal case against the police officers who used weapons when detaining the Eskerkhanovs, a decision was made to refuse to initiate a criminal case, because there is no element of any crime in their actions and their actions are recognized as lawful.”

The resolution makes an attempt to present that those who died on October 3 at dawn allegedly “tried” to attack the police. However, Rustam and Raslambek Eskerkhanov were detained the day before, that is, on October 2. Their relatives and neighbors were witnesses. Throughout the next day, their relatives and friends contacted the authorities of the Urus-Martan district, asking and demanding to know who took them away, what they were accused of and where they were being kept. The heads of the security forces were promptly informed that Rustam Eskerkhanov’s passport, which was left at home, had been brought to the regional center and could be presented if necessary. The corresponding statements were submitted to the VOVD, the FSB department and the district prosecutor's office. On the same day - October 2 - the relatives of the disappeared turned for legal assistance to the representative office of the Memorial Human Rights Center in Urus-Martan, as well as to the local bureau of V. Kalamanov.

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Under unclear circumstances, a resident of the village of Novy Sharoy, Shadit (Shadid) Abuevich Yakhiev, born in 1959, disappeared. He worked as a game warden and had to go to a meeting in Grozny. According to his wife, Roza Yakhieva, her husband left the house in the morning and never returned. He was last seen at a road intersection near a populated area. He was also not present at the meeting, from which we can conclude that his disappearance occurred at least before his arrival in Grozny. As of December 27, 2007, when the Memorial Human Rights Center accepted a statement from Yakhieva, the whereabouts of her husband had not been established.

The missing person did not take part in the hostilities. His special feature is the absence of the thumb and index finger on his right hand. Trying to find him, his relatives contacted the village administration, submitted an application to the police department and the regional department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the Chechen Republic. We contacted the 6th Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs 41 and tried to find out about him at the Russian military base in the village of Khankala. Relatives also conducted unofficial searches. However, this did not bring results; it was not possible to find the missing person.

The prosecutor's office of the Achkhoy-Martan district opened a criminal case into the disappearance of Shadit (Shadid) Yakhiev. However, neither the case number nor the status of the investigation are known to the relatives. On October 26, 2001, the police department of the same district opened a search case No. 7/28.
According to Roza Yakhieva, the relatives did not file a complaint with the court about the inaction of the prosecutor’s office and did not appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

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Isa Abdulaevich Akhmaev, born in 1963, resident of the town of Ivanova, Grozny, was kidnapped and subsequently went missing. He was taken from there, but not from his home. As his brother, Bislan Akhmaev, reported, that evening Isa was visiting a friend, Eli Idrisovich Magomaev, born in 1961. There he, along with another person released two days ago, was kidnapped by unknown people. Isa Akhmaev’s relatives know nothing about the details of what happened.

On November 14, 2001, they contacted the representative office of the Memorial Human Rights Center in Grozny, the ICRC. They also filed an application with the prosecutor's office. Memorial employees sent a request (No. 165-g) to the senior justice adviser Yu.A. Ponomarev from the Grozny city prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office of the Staropromyslovsky district opened a criminal case, but it was subsequently suspended “due to the impossibility of identifying the persons involved in the commission of the crime.” The relatives did not file a complaint with the court about the inaction of the prosecutor's office and did not appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

According to his brother’s testimony, Isa Akhmaev has brown hair and brown eyes. Height 175 cm, weight 70-75 kg. There are tattoos on his right arm, chest and shoulder. He did not take part in hostilities either in the first war or in the second.

From the book “People Live Here”, Usam Baysaev, Dmitry Grushkin, 2006.