The hunt for the lost imam
On 11 February, students of the Veterinary College of Buinsk, school directors, foresters, including about 60 non-resident volunteers took part in a large-scale land operation together with district police officers. They were looking for tracks and clues that could throw light on the mysterious disappearance of Hazrat Suleyman Zaripov and his fellow-traveller Sheikh Nadzhmeddin, a representative of the Arab charity foundation Dar al Ber. Meanwhile, siloviks talked to all drivers who passed by Buinsk on 7 February. Today the searches are continued.
On foot, on skis, on snowcats
On Thursday, the volunteers were to be in the building of the madrasah of Buinsk by 9 a.m. 'About 50-60 people, school directors, district police officers, workers of rural councils, teachers and students of the Veterinary College came there. They made up over 120 people in total,' the imam-mukhtasib of Buinsk District Hazrat Ilmir Khasanov told Realnoe Vremya. According to his words, all participants of the operation were divided into groups that were headed by the district police officers and workers of the rural councils who knew the locality.
The participants of the groups were given leads, Hazrat Suleyman and his foreign companion's photos and information about how to behave if something would be found.
'All nearest villages of Buinsk, roadsides, windbreaks were examined. We followed the trials, checked yards and examined forsaken houses. On foot, we checked many timesthe road where they have been seen for the last time,' says Hazrat Ilmir.
Did all volunteers go on foot?
No, local sportsmen were on skis and foresters used their snowcats.
We canvassed all villages within a radius of 20 km
The son-in-law of the lost Hazrat Gumar Ganiev expresses his gratitude who agreed to help. 'In total, there were 150 people. It was a very fruitful day. We completely canvassed all villages within a radius of 20 km from Buinsk, Stary Studenets too (Editor's Note: they have been seen there for the last time).'
No personal items of the lost people or suspicious objects were found on Thursday. Aiguzel Khairieva, the coordinator of the public search party Liza Alert, thinks that no result was a good sign:
'I hope that the hunts of the volunteers won't give any result. I want to believe that police will find him (Editor's Note: Hazrat Suleyman) safe and sound. The workers of the Investigative Committee and police need a good luck to find the thread that would help to untangle this case. I remember many people who disappeared with their cars and without them, but later they were found.'
Investigation needs help
According to the relatives and volunteers, records of dash cameras of the cars that passed by might be one of the clues in this case. 'It is possible that these records could help to see how somebody got out of the car or took another one. Because now surveillance cameras show how Toyota only enters Buinsk,' the imam-mukhtasib of Buinsk District explains. 'We need dash camera records of the cars going on Stary Studenets-Buinsk route or vice versa from 14.30 to 15.30.'
Liza Alert search party thinks that temporary coverage of the records can be wider. 'WE ASK ALL DRIVERS who were on P241 Kazan-Ulyanovsk route to present DASH CAMERA RECORDS of the area Studenets-Buinsk from 13.00 to 18.00 on 7 February to police,' as it is posted on the page of the public organization.
While the volunteers examined the territory, the workers of the law enforcement agencies checked the records of the surveillance cameras and found out the connection of Hazrat Suleyman Zaripov and Sheikh Nadzhmeddin, his fellow-traveller and representative of the Arab charity foundation Dar el Ber. As Realnoe Vremya found out, representatives of Muslim organization of Chuvashia and Ulyanovsk were enquired during the investigation.
However, the representatives of force structures don't share with new data about the course of the investigation of the case. According to Realnoe Vremya's data, the case on the disappearance of two Muslim scholars on the way from Saransk to Kazan is simultaneously executed by the workers of the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service. A murder case was opened. It is considered to give the material to the Department of Investigation of Major Cases of the Investigative Administration of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan.