The body of a 38-year-old taxi driver has been found in the Javan district. Relatives of the deceased report that unknown individuals killed him by inflicting 9 stab wounds, after which they fled in his car. According to them, the suspect—a schoolboy—has been detained. Law enforcement agencies have not yet officially commented on the case.
The body of Lutfullo Safarov, a resident of this area who worked for the “3333” company in the Javan district, was discovered by local residents on April 4 in an agricultural field. He was 38 years old, and he left behind a wife and four young children.
Fathullo Safarov, Lutfullo’s father, told “Asia-Plus” on April 6 that his son left for work in the afternoon of April 3 and did not return home. Communication with him was completely lost around 6:00 PM that same day.
According to him, on the morning of April 4, he received a call from his daughter-in-law, who said that his son had not come home the previous night.
“Around 5:30 PM, two people got into Lutfullo’s car and said: take us to the village of Dastgirak. They already had a plan to kill my son. About 6 kilometers from the district, in an empty lot, they inflicted 9 stab wounds on Lutfullo in various parts of his body. They attacked him from behind, including three knife strikes to the back of the neck. After that, they took his car and fled. His money and documents were left in his pocket,” said Lutfullo’s father.
Fathullo Safarov added that a shepherd discovered his son’s body, and he learned about the incident on the afternoon of April 4 from one of the deceased’s colleagues.
“When I arrived there, Lutfullo’s lifeless and bloodied body was lying on the ground. I wiped his face, covered him with clothing, and reported to the internal affairs department of the Javan district. The police took the body, conducted an examination, and returned it after lunch. In the evening of April 4, we buried him,” said Safarov.
The man, citing information from the authorities, said that one person has been detained in connection with this incident, and he is a student at one of the district’s schools. However, he does not believe that this schoolboy could have committed the crime alone.
According to Safarov, his son’s car was found near the suspect’s home.
“The authorities said that one person has been detained on suspicion of murdering my son. He turned out to be an 11th-grade student from the village of Dastgirak. The suspect claimed that he committed the murder alone, but this guy could never have done something like that alone. This murder is at least the work of 2-3 people,” said Safarov.
Photo from social media.
It was not possible to confirm these words through other sources.
Meanwhile, on April 7, a representative of the Javan district administration confirmed to “Asia-Plus” that Safarov’s body had indeed been found, but stated that “no one has been detained yet.”
“In connection with this incident, many people are being questioned, but at this time no one has been detained. There are no grounds to claim that this is a murder or suicide. Law enforcement agencies are investigating the case,” said the district administration representative briefly.
Attempts by journalists to obtain information from the district’s law enforcement agencies have been unsuccessful. The internal affairs department of the Javan district told “Asia-Plus” that they cannot provide information on this matter.
Fathullo Safarov says that he still does not know what the motive was for the murder of his son by unknown individuals. According to him, Lutfullo had no enemies and earned a living as a taxi driver.
In recent days, this is not the first mysterious murder reported by the media in Tajikistan. On the night of April 1 to 2, two women—aged 20 and 28—and a 6-year-old child were mysteriously killed in the city of Kulyab. Authorities have opened a criminal case on charges of murder against Vali Safarali, the husband of one of the murdered women.
