“Specialized” in the commission of especially serious crimes: in Poltava region police detained participants of OZH
In the criminal arsenal of those involved - kidnapping, extortion and robbery attacks. At the moment, five members of the group have been informed of suspicions, four of them are in custody without the right to make bail, the whereabouts of another are being established.
Operatives of the Directorate of Strategic Investigations in the Poltava region, investigators of the Investigative Department of the Regional Police, prosecutors of the Poltava Regional Prosecutor's Office with the strong support of special officers of the special purpose police regiment, KORD and TOR detained four members of the criminal group. All of them are residents of the region between the ages of 22 and 39, two of them have criminal experience.
Detainees “specialized” in robberies, extorting money from citizens, in particular by kidnapping them and using weapons. During the investigation, the police collected evidence of the involvement of the defendants in the commission of four episodes of illegal activity. In one case, the attackers presented themselves as law enforcement officers. Threatening the victim with criminal prosecution and weapons, they demanded 200,000 hryvnias from him. After the man refused to give the money, he was forcibly put in a car and taken in an unknown direction. After the attackers received 1000 euros from the relatives of the victim, they were released.
Another victim was demanded $10,000. They cornered him near one of the shops in Poltava, took away keys and documents, forcibly transplanted him to the back seat of his own car. Causing physical violence, they forced the man to pay money. However, taking advantage of the moment, the victim fled and turned to the police.
The third victim, a minor, fearing for his life, gave them 38,000 hryvnias and provided access to an electronic wallet, where there was 6,000 US dollars. To do this, the defendants broke into his home, forced them to sit in their car and took them to the bank branch. Later, the victim was held against his will for another day in order to get money from an electronic wallet.
Police detained four members of the criminal group. They and another accomplice, whose location is established, were informed of suspicion under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- part 2 tbsp. 146 (Unlawful imprisonment or kidnapping of a person)
- -part 4 tbsp. 187 (Robbery)
- part 4 tbsp. 189 (Requisition)
- Part 3 of Art. 357 (Abduction, appropriation, extortion of documents, stamps, seals, possession of them by fraud or abuse of office, or damage to them).
In addition, according to the results of the searches, weapons, ammunition, special equipment, drugs, money, cars used during the crimes, and belongings of the victims were seized.
Currently, the four suspects have chosen preventive measures in the form of detention without the right to post bail. After the procedural measures, the issue of notification of suspicion to other members of the group will be resolved. The collection of evidence of their involvement in the commission of similar crimes continues.
National Police of Ukraine
