On December 12, the Investigative Committee announced the completion of the investigation into the murder of the head of the Ingush Center for External Action, Ibragim Eldzharkiev and his brother. The crime is classified as a terrorist attack. There are 11 defendants in the case. The investigation considers businessman Khasan Polonkoev to be the organizer.
The head of the Ingush Center for Countering Extremism, Ibragim Eldzharkiev, was shot dead in Moscow on November 2, 2019. His brother, Moscow doctor Akhmed Eldzharkiev, also died along with him. This was the second attempt on the life of the head of the Center for External Action - the first occurred in January 2019, when his car was fired upon. Three policemen who were in it were wounded, but Eldzharkiev himself was not injured.
As stated in the indictment, the goals of the terrorist attacks were to “destabilize the activities of authorities” and put pressure on them in order to prevent the disclosure of crimes committed by members of the terrorist community. Sources in Ingushetia believe that Eldzharkiev was a victim of blood feud - he was considered responsible for the murder of Ibragim Belkharoev in 2018, but the investigation excluded the motive of revenge from the charges.
Ibragim Belkharoev was one of the leaders of the Batalkhadzhintsy, or Belkharoevtsy, an Ingush Sufi community of followers of the 19th century religious figure Batal-Khadzhi Belkharoev, a student of the Chechen sheikh Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev. In Ingushetia, Kishiev is revered as a preacher who played a major role in the Islamization of the pagan region.
The followers of Batal-Hadji are a very close-knit and closed religious-communal group, numbering, according to various estimates, from 5 to 15 thousand people. Most of the Belkharoevites live in the village of Surkhakhi, Nazran district of Ingushetia. Cohesion allowed them to take control of large objects in the republic - markets, hotels - and successfully lobby their interests in the authorities.
According to the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, in recent years the Belkharoev clan was divided into two wings: one interacted with the former head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the other, including Ibragim Belkharoev, with the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. It was the second wing that conflicted with Ibrahim Eldzharkiev.
After the murder of Eldzharkiev, mass detentions of Batalkhadzhin residents began. Dozens of community members were then arrested. They were charged with serious charges, and some were accused of direct participation in the murder.
The investigation considers businessman Khasan Polonkoev to be the leader of the group involved in the murder. Also in the dock are his son Zakra, nephew Aslan Polonkoev, Ali Kartoev, Issa Nakasthoev and Alikhan Belkharoev. The latter told his lawyers that security forces tortured him to extract a confession. All are accused of participating in a terrorist community, committing a terrorist attack, and trafficking in weapons.
But the persecution of the Batalkhadzhin people did not end there. As the Memorial Center for Human Rights reports, this fall a new wave of arrests began in Ingushetia, this time of influential members of the community. On October 27, the 64-year-old chairman of the Chamber of Control and Accounts of Ingushetia, Mustafa Belkharoev, the 62-year-old actual owner of the construction company Temp LLC, Mikail Aliev (formerly a deputy of the People's Assembly of Ingushetia and head of the FBGU "Ingushmeliovodkhoz"), as well as the Zyazikov brothers, who manage construction company. The detainees are suspected of organizing extortion and murder. During searches, security forces found firearms and ammunition in their homes. Relatives claim that the weapon was planted.
On October 31, 51-year-old Khavazh Tunguev was detained for possession of weapons. On November 1, searches were carried out in the village of Surkhakhi in the houses of Mustafa Belkhoroyev’s cousins - brothers Akhmed, Adam, Bashir, Umatgirey and Mustafa Belkhoroyev. According to the official version, during the searches an improvised explosive device and drugs were seized.
On November 2, law enforcement officers detained another “combat leader of the Batalkhadzhi community,” 52-year-old Ruslan Albogachiev. During a search, a grenade was allegedly found in his apartment.
On the same day, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a video message on his Telegram channel, where he condemned the persecution of the Batalkhadzhin residents and called on the Ingush to “find a common language for dialogue within the republic.”
He called the arrests of Batalkhadzhin residents persecution, and the expression “Batalkhadzhin terrorist community” is absurd. “If they are terrorists, then I am the number one terrorist, if they are a sect, then I am the number one sect, because we are fellow believers,” Kadyrov said.
In the video, sitting next to Kadyrov is one of the leaders of the Batalkhadzhin people, ex-member of the Ingush parliament Akhmed Belkhoroev. He stated that his community was being slandered, weapons and drugs were being planted on them, and the murder of his brother Ibrahim was never solved. According to Belkharoev, all this complicates the socio-political situation in the republic and can lead to war. Earlier, on his Instagram page, he called on community members to protest.