Istanbul police have detained three Tajikistan nationals for suspected involvement in the murder of Tajik opposition leader Umarali Kuvatov. Exiled Kuvatov was shot in the head on March 5 while walking near his home in Istanbul's Fatih neighborhood. Istanbul's Counterterrorism Bureau investigation revealed that a Tajik family friend of Kuvatov, only identified as Süleyman, visited Kuvatov's home in Fatih the same evening. Süleyman brought with him a rice dish, which was eaten by the opposition politician, his wife and two children. After the dinner, the family decided to go out for a walk. The politician was killed in front of his family. The culprit fled the scene after the crime. Authorities took his wife to the hospital after she said she felt ill. At the hospital, analysis showed that the wife and the two children had been poisoned. An autopsy on Kuvatov also showed that there was poison in his body. The police sent the rice for testing, which proved that the dish was the source of the poison. The police later detained Süleyman and two other Tajik nationals.
