Former chairman of Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Commission and ex-world champion murdered

Former chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission of Kazakhstan Ministry of Transport and Communications Mukhit Kubayev and ex-karate world champion and former head of Aktau Criminal investigation Department Serik Bimurzin were murdered in Mangistau oblast. The police solved the murder in a matter of days, but still does not know the motive behind it, the official representative of Kazakhstan Interior Department Nurdilda Oraz told Tengrinews.kz. Mangistau Oblast Interior Department held a briefing on the case. On June 11 the families of Kubayev and Bimurzin told the police that the two men were missing. The police found that they left Almaty on Toyota Land Cruiser 200 on May 29 and arrived to Mangistau oblast on June 1. The road police department found that the car that they were driving was re-registered to Mr. S. and a new plate number was issued on June 5. The new owner of the car was identified and arrested on June 13. He told the police that his relative Mr. K. committed the double murder near Karaman-Ata necropolis 104km from Aktau on June 1. On June 2 Mr. K. convinced Mr. S., 38, to hide the weapons used to murder the two men. After burring them in 1.5-meted-deep graves Mr. S. hired special vehicles for the earthworks to flatten the area for 65 thousand tenge ($433). Kubayev and Bimurzin allegedly arrived to Karaman-Ata for business and had never met Mr. K. before June 1. Mr. K. was born in 1973 and resided in Aktau city in western Kazakhstan but allegedly came to Kazakhstan from Uzbekistan. “On June 13 two male bodies with signs of violent death (gunshot wounds) were discovered and dug out during from the place specified by Mr. S. The families identified them as Bimurzin and Kubayev. Forensic tests were made. Mr. S. also showed the place 20km north-east of Aktau-Zhanaoen road where he buried the bag with weapons: Baikal gun with no serial number, , machine gun, several clips and 57 7.62mm bullets, two bulletproof vests and a gun case,” the press-service reported. Mr. S. is currently in pretrial jail, but the second criminal has not been found and arrested yet. The circumstances of the crime are being investigated. A criminal case on murder charges has been initiated. Police has given no information about the motives behind the crime, no details or versions. Two bulletproof vests in the weapons stash make the murders look like intentional homicides or even contract murders. However it seems unclear whether the expensive car and cash was the main goal of the murders or whether the deaths were a result a business deal that went sour. It is also unclear why the two men traveled to Karaman-Ata together and what business they were involved in. It is possible, however, that ex-karate world champion Serik Bimurzin accompanied Mukhit Kubayev for protection, as some kind of a bodyguard. The police has made no comments on any of the assumptions. Mukhit Kubayev was buried on June 15 in Aktobe. According to Moi Gorod, several hundreds of people gathered for the funeral. One of Aktobe streets was closed for the farewell ceremony. The murdered former official had a wife and 6 children. His wife refused to make any comments mentioning only that the murderer had not been arrested and the investigation was still on. Mukhit Kubayev, 55, used to head Astana airport and made a career in the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kazakhstan. But a corruption cased put an end to his political career in 2010 when he was given a suspended three-year prison term, but was amnestied shortly after. He was convicted for embezzlement of 132,5 million tenge (around $900 thousand) from the state budget during implementation of the Western China - Western Europe transport corridor project in Kazakhstan. Serik Bimurzin, 56, was an 8-time martial arts champion of Kazakhstan, champion of the USSR, Champion of Europe (France, 1992) 3-time medal winner of world champions (bronze in full contact karate, Okinawa, Japan, 1991; bronze in ushu-sanda, Malaysia, 1993; silver in kickboxing, South Korea, 1996) and two-time contact karate world champion (USA, 1994 and 2000). Serik Bimurzin started in "Who are you Mr. Ka?", a joint Kazakhstan-Russian production, in 2009. Serik Bimurzin made a career in the police, he used to head Aktau Criminal investigation Department and serve as vice-head of Almaty Interior Department. By Assemgul Kassenova