A monument in the form of a black bicycle installed in Khatlon’s Danghara district to commemorate four foreign cycling tourists, who were brutally killed brutally killed in the district on July 29, 2018, “has disappeared,” Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported on August 16.
Asia-Plus has tried to know where the monument has gone.
Deputy Mayor of Danghara, Karomiddin Kholzoda, told Asia-Plus by phone that “the monument is being renovated now, after which it will be returned to its place.”
Kholzoda could not give the exact date when the monument had been removed. He just noted that it had been done recently and “the renovated monument will stand in its place soon.”
In the brutal July 29 attack on the foreigners, a car rammed into the group of cyclists before multiple attackers emerged from the vehicle and stabbed survivors, killing two Americans, a Swiss, and a Dutch national. Three other foreigners were injured in the attack before the assailants sped off.
The government says four perpetrators were killed while resisting arrest and at least five others detained on suspicion of involvement and financing.
A self-filmed video by the quintet of suspected Danghara attack perpetrators shows them sitting in front of the black flag of the Islamic State (IS) terror group and pledging allegiance to the organization.
The Tajik authorities, however, blamed followers of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).
A memorial plaque to commemorate four foreign cyclist tourists was installed at the scene of the attack near the Safobakhsh village on August 2, 2018. The commemorative plaque was reportedly installed by the Danghara district administration.
On September 2, 2018, the monument in the form a black bicycle was installed at the scene of the incident.
On the same day, a cycle race was to commemorate the four foreign cycling tourists. The 87-kilometer race was organized by Rakhsh Taxi Company. It started at Dushanbe’s Eastern Gate and finished at the scene of the incident. Some 50 cyclists of different ages participated in the commemorative race. A number of foreign cyclists also participated in this race.
