Tweet
NEUTRALIZED: AT LEAST ONE DEAD IN YEREVAN POLICE OPERATION TARGETING MAJOR CRIME SUSPECTS
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
23.09.11 | 13:16
Residents of Yerevan woke up Friday morning to the news of a major
police operation near the center of their city in which cops chased
a suspected gang on the road, killing at least one in the fray.
A police report said several other people suspected of committing
heavy crimes were "neutralized" in that same operation that culminated
in Myasnkiyan Avenue, a thoroughfare connecting Nor Nork, a large
Yerevan suburb, to the city center.
According to unofficial data, the members of the "neutralized" group
were responsible for a series of high-profile robberies against former
and current officials that rocked the city earlier this year.
The part of the avenue near the Yerevan Zoo, where the incident took
place (and where one dead body and a crashed Mercedes remained), was
sealed off in the morning, causing traffic congestions on the highway
and interfering with the morning schedules of a lot of commuters.
One of the members of the suspected gang, according to the preliminary
information reported by NEWS.am, is a son of a senior law-enforcement
official - deputy head of the Special Investigatory Service Marcel
Matevosyan. No official information on this account is available yet.
The man who reportedly died during the operation had taken to flight
and fell to his death from a cliff that flanks the avenue.
"Operations on the neutralization of persons suspected of grave crimes
have been on since early in the morning. We will report on the nature
of the crimes involved later on," Police spokesman Ashot Aharonyan
told ArmeniaNow.
But different media quoting their own sources have alleged that the
suspected criminals are members of a gang that committed a series
of high-profile robberies against former and current officials. Many
have been calling this gang "Robin Hood".
The last crime committed by that group was reported on August 25, with
the target being ex-MP Napoleon Azizyan. Threatening with guns, the
gangsters stole 3 million drams (about $8,000 dollars), $20,000, gold
jewelry and valuable paintings from the former parliamentarian's home.
Earlier, in July, the "Robin Hoods" robbed former community head and
current State Cadastre Committee official Aghvan Grigoryan, and still
before that former road construction programs director at the Lincy
Foundation Edward Bezoyan.
In all cases the criminals beat and tied their victims, all members
of their families, then escaped with their loot in cars owned by
the victim.
These events caused a major stir in the law-enforcement agencies and
prosecutors and police officials held special consultations, inviting
the best personnel to neutralize the gang. Armenia's Police Chief
Alik Sargsyan stated that he did not rule out that former employees
of the law-enforcement system were also involved in the gang.
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
23.09.11 | 13:16
Residents of Yerevan woke up Friday morning to the news of a major
police operation near the center of their city in which cops chased
a suspected gang on the road, killing at least one in the fray.
A police report said several other people suspected of committing
heavy crimes were "neutralized" in that same operation that culminated
in Myasnkiyan Avenue, a thoroughfare connecting Nor Nork, a large
Yerevan suburb, to the city center.
According to unofficial data, the members of the "neutralized" group
were responsible for a series of high-profile robberies against former
and current officials that rocked the city earlier this year.
The part of the avenue near the Yerevan Zoo, where the incident took
place (and where one dead body and a crashed Mercedes remained), was
sealed off in the morning, causing traffic congestions on the highway
and interfering with the morning schedules of a lot of commuters.
One of the members of the suspected gang, according to the preliminary
information reported by NEWS.am, is a son of a senior law-enforcement
official - deputy head of the Special Investigatory Service Marcel
Matevosyan. No official information on this account is available yet.
The man who reportedly died during the operation had taken to flight
and fell to his death from a cliff that flanks the avenue.
"Operations on the neutralization of persons suspected of grave crimes
have been on since early in the morning. We will report on the nature
of the crimes involved later on," Police spokesman Ashot Aharonyan
told ArmeniaNow.
But different media quoting their own sources have alleged that the
suspected criminals are members of a gang that committed a series
of high-profile robberies against former and current officials. Many
have been calling this gang "Robin Hood".
The last crime committed by that group was reported on August 25, with
the target being ex-MP Napoleon Azizyan. Threatening with guns, the
gangsters stole 3 million drams (about $8,000 dollars), $20,000, gold
jewelry and valuable paintings from the former parliamentarian's home.
Earlier, in July, the "Robin Hoods" robbed former community head and
current State Cadastre Committee official Aghvan Grigoryan, and still
before that former road construction programs director at the Lincy
Foundation Edward Bezoyan.
In all cases the criminals beat and tied their victims, all members
of their families, then escaped with their loot in cars owned by
the victim.
These events caused a major stir in the law-enforcement agencies and
prosecutors and police officials held special consultations, inviting
the best personnel to neutralize the gang. Armenia's Police Chief
Alik Sargsyan stated that he did not rule out that former employees
of the law-enforcement system were also involved in the gang.