Person arrested in connection with murder of Parakar Mayor Volodya Grigoryan: Deputy Police Chief
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A person has been arrested in connection with the murder of Parakar Mayor Volodya Grigoryan and off-duty police officer Karen Abrahamyan, Colonel Vardan Vardanyan, Deputy Police Chief and Head of the Criminal Police Department, said in an interview with 24news.
According to Vardanyan, the incident is related to interpersonal conflicts and is a continuation of an incident that occurred in February. “There is no political element in the case. The overall incident is a consequence of interpersonal relations,” he emphasized, denying widespread allegations that it could be politically motivated.
“Investigations are ongoing,” he added, noting that a more detailed statement will be issued later.
Narek Sargsyan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Armenpress that there is no new information to report at this time. “The investigative actions continue,” Sargsyan said.
Earlier, several media outlets reported that the suspect in the murders of Volodya Grigoryan and Karen Abrahamyan had been identified. According to reports, the suspect is the brother of a man who was shot dead earlier this year in Parakar - a man who was also the cousin of the town’s former mayor, Mher Akhtoyan. One of the individuals arrested in connection with that earlier killing was reportedly the late Volodya Grigoryan’s brother.
The mayor of Parakar, a small town near Yerevan, was shot dead along with his friend, an off-duty police officer, outside a house near Merdzavan around midnight on Tuesday. The attack also left another person wounded.