Journalist’s murder probe focuses on ex-police officers

INVESTIGATORS are focusing their inquiry into the killing of a Russian investigative reporter on former police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Anna Politkovskaya, who had exposed killings, torture and other abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was gunned down in an apparent contract killing in her apartment building October 7. The gunmen have not been found and the murder set off a chorus of protest from foreign governments and international organisations.

Kommersant said investigators looking into her death travelled to the Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiisk, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow, last week after reports two police officers wanted for crimes in Chechnya had been seen there.