The head of the Drug Control Agency (DCA)’s office in Khatlon province, Colonel Nodir Murodzoda, has reportedly been detained on suspicion of fraud and an attempt to take bribe from relatives of suspected drug trafficker.
A source of Asia-Plus within the Khatlon law enforcement authorities has confirmed this information and said that Murodzoda and several his subordinates were detained two weeks ago.
The source has refrained friend from giving further details of this case and just noted that the operation had bene carried out by officers of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS).
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported on February 26 that Colonel Murodzoda is charged with official forgery in the case of the suspected drug trafficker and receiving a bribe in the amount of more than 150,000 somonis.
Criminal proceedings against him have been instituted under the provisions of Article 247 (4) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – large-scale fraud. An investigation is under way
Citing its source in investigative bodies, Radio Ozodi reports that a local resident was detained by officers from the DCA’s office in Khatlon in cooperation with officers from the SCNS’s office in Khatlon on suspicion of being involved in drug trafficking.
Murodzoda reportedly took over the investigation into his case, “but against the evidence, he tried to take the suspect away from criminal liability or reduce the charge.”
Nodir Murodzoda is currently being held in SCNS-run pretrial detention facility in Dushanbe. The charge brought against him provides for a fine of 94,000 to 140,000 somonis or imprisonment for a term of 8 to 12 years.
