Authorities force Derbent PSS battalion commander to retire, his subordinates assert

Bosses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan want to dismiss Sirazutdin Ragimov, commander of the battalion of the patrol-sentry service (PSS) of Derbent and his deputy for work with personnel Andrei Basinskikh, as reported by the militiamen of the battalion.

"The staff of the PSS is still working; but people are nervous and wait who would be the next. So far, the battalion commander and his deputy have been sacked, but the official formulation of their dismissal was not yet announced," a Derbent journalist, who preferred to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Earlier, Magomed Khan Magomedov, an observer of the Dagestan-based newspaper "Chernovik", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that before the elections on October 11 in Derbent the militiamen who had failed to early vote for the authorities-supported candidate for the city Mayor were dismissed but then restored at work after protest actions.

However, the acting head of the Derbent city militia Isidulakh Gasanov said in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the information that militiamen had been forced to vote for a particular candidate is a provocation.

"The information that 75 PPS militiamen figured in the story with the battalion commander is a lie. In total, the PSS battalion has 151 persons, of them only 28 persons had earlier worked with Ragimov - all his relatives. He forced them to retire. The remaining staff works normally - they're all at service," said Mr Gasanov.