Detectives suspect suicide bomber's husband of connection to Volgograd bombing
MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee has asked citizens for information about Naida Asiyalova, a suicide bomber who blew herself up in Volgograd, and about her common-law husband, Dmitry Sokolov, who is suspected of being involved in the terrorist attack, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
"Detectives have reasons to suspect that the common-law husband of Asiyalova, 21-year-old Dmitry Sokolov who is believed missing, might have helped organize the attack," Markin told Interfax on Wednesday.
He said that the detectives asked anyone who might have any information about Asiyalova and Sokolov, such as their places of employment or residence, to report it to the Volgograd department of the Russian Investigative Committee.
"The Investigative Committee guarantees confidentiality of information or even witness protection if necessary," Markin said.
Asiyalova, a native of Dagestan, lived in Moscow for the past few years and worked for a private company. She regularly visited her hometown.
"The detectives have reconstructed the last day of her life practically minute by minute. Information collected by the police and the results of investigative procedures showed that Asiyalova, wearing a hijab, came to Volgograd and walked along the crowded streets in the Dzerzhinsky and Sovetsky districts, including near the Akvarel shopping mall. She took the Route 29 bus from there and blew herself up," Markin said.
Sokolov's parents residing in the Moscow region reported his disappearance in the summer of 2012, he said.
"They said their son went to a mosque and never came home. Nothing has been known about his whereabouts since then. He became acquainted with his future common-law wife Asiyalova about three years ago. They had the same interest, radical Islam," Markin said.
The explosion on a Volgograd bus killed six people and the suicide bomber on Monday. Twenty-nine people injured in the explosion are receiving hospital treatment.
The Volgograd region is holding three days of mourning for the victims of the terrorist attack.