KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA

SEPTEMBER 23, 1999

PSYCHOSIS

How I Became a "TERRORIST"

A "KP" journalist tried to find the address of relatives of Denis Saitakov, a suspect in the Moscow bombings. And was... arrested in Kazan.

— Haven't you heard the sensation? Today in Kazan, they caught a terrorist. Her last name is Akhmirova, — a friend reported yesterday evening.

"Terrorist" Akhmirova was carrying out an editorial assignment: to search for everything related to the name of Denis Saitakov. For some time he lived in Naberezhnye Chelny; according to some reports, he underwent training in militant camps in Chechnya, and is now on the federal wanted list. Denis's father, plumber Farit Saitakov, lives in Chelny...

Having been turned away by Kazan counter-intelligence officers and detectives — saying, "don't meddle in the secrecy of the investigation" — I head to the address bureau. Fortunately, it is free in Tatarstan. I make a request, wait five, ten, twenty minutes.

— Young lady, come in! — I am invited into the office of the head of the address bureau, where two pairs of inquisitive eyes fixate on me.

— Your application? — they show me my request.

— Mine, — and just in case, I take out my editorial press card. — I need Saitakov senior.

— And who is Saitakov senior?

— The father of Saitakov junior, — I don't lose my composure. — Well, Denis, who is suspected...

— And how do you know Denis?

This question puts me in a dead end. Saitakov's photo is hanging in Moscow and other cities on almost every entrance. Nevertheless, my "awareness" noticeably irritates the local Pinkertons: "You seem to know an awful lot..."

— You'll have to come with us after all, — says a man who introduced himself as a criminal investigation officer. He showed his ID, covering his last name with his palm. — Maybe you are a relative of Saitakov or his girlfriend?

— Why the hell would I have gone to the address bureau then? — that's what I only wanted to ask, but didn't. So as not to completely confuse the investigation.

Later at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I had an even more substantial conversation with another person. He was interested: maybe I still know something they don't? For example, Saitakov's whereabouts? I solemnly promised: as soon as it becomes known to me, I will immediately inform them about it from the pages of "KP". And I advised them to subscribe to their favorite newspaper.

— If you continue to try to find Saitakov senior, you will end up here again...

— And what will happen then?

— Oh, nothing, — the detective catches himself. — We'll just smile at each other again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw how the staff rushed from office to office with my application for the search for Saitakov, as if it were a precious object. I suspect the piece of paper will now be filed in the case as a great operational success. Some kind of compensation for an hour and a half of lost time. But from now on, I will not, like millions of Russians, be tormented by the question: is anything at all being done to stop the wave of terror?

Rimma AKHMIROVA. (Our special correspondent). Kazan.

P. S. Please consider this note my explanatory statement regarding the failed editorial assignment.

[Photo caption]: ...and our terrorist Rimma's height is only 153 cm.

[Sidebar]: — And who is Saitakov senior? — The father of Saitakov junior (From the interrogation of the "terrorist".)

GRANDMOTHER'S VERSION

"It was like a bombing..."

RESIDENT of the house Vera Ivanovna (the grandmother did not give her last name): — I went out onto the porch to get some air before bed. And just before the explosion, I heard the roar of a plane. Then — a sound like a whistle. And then it went boom. It seems to me it was a bomb. I saw enough of that during the war. Maybe some military plane accidentally dropped it?

+++
Yesterday, Alexander Borisov, a military specialist from the Air Force General Staff, categorically rejected Vera Ivanovna's version: this cannot be, because it is impossible.

GAS VERSION

Inspection of this house has not been carried out for a long time

ACCORDING TO THE COMMISSION investigating the circumstances of the building explosion, such a character and scale of destruction of the building could have resulted from a so-called "volumetric" explosion, which only a gas explosion can lead to. However, an external gas line was connected to this house, there were no gas communications in the basement of the building, and this reduces the probability of a gas explosion to a minimum.

As we managed to find out, Mosgaz has not conducted an inspection of gas equipment in such houses for a long time, but only paid attention to structures equipped with gas water heaters.

Viktoria KUZMINA.

[Handwritten note]: KP, 10, 9, 99

CLINICAL VERSION

Ilyukhin found terrorists in "Otechestvo"

YESTERDAY, the head of the Duma Security Committee, Viktor Ilyukhin, expressed his version of the reasons for the explosion. It more resembles a diagnosis of current political mores: "If the state..."

ANONYMOUS VERSION

"This is a response to the bombings of Chechnya!.."

YESTERDAY at 12:45 in the central office of the informati...