Dubai: Police are investigating the apparent assassination of a Chechen resident at Dubai's Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) on Saturday.
The police have yet to reveal any details of the case, but witnesses said the victim, identified by Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, chief of Dubai Police, as Sulaiman Madov, was shot dead at close range by a lone assassin at JBR's Rimal 6 Building.
Official sources said more details would be revealed to the media in the next few days.
Other police sources told Gulf News that a Russian national is currently in custody in connection with the crime, but declined to give further details.
"The murder seems to be an assassination because he was shot dead in the parking of the building where he was living," Lt Gen Dahi said earlier.
He added that the 36-year-old victim was believed to have been "under surveillance for some time".
Security guards at the Rimal building claimed they heard a couple of shots on the day of the murder, which is said to have been committed at around 3pm.
"The security guard at that section of the building found the body... in a pool of blood covering the entrance to the lifts..." said a guard who had just recently taken up the job at JBR.
Another security guard added that the victim's two body guards, who are believed to have survived the shootings, said he was shot in the back of his neck.
Police, however, declined to confirm or deny the information about the presence of the body guards.
"It's only [this] morning that I realised the reason behind police presence in the area. This is the second time we [have heard] about a murder. Personally it doesn't worry me as these are not random killings.
"Dubai, in comparison, to many countries, is a very safe place," said a British national woman who lives at JBR.
On July 28, 2008, a Lebanese singer, Suzan Tamim was found dead in her apartment in a Rimal building at the JBR complex after neighbours raised the alarm.
According to media reports, Chechen exiles claim three compatriots have been assassinated in the last six months in Istanbul and one in Vienna for political reasons.
-- With inputs from Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
