The top regional security official in Russia’s Caucasus region of Ingushetia was assassinated on Tuesday by unidentified gunmen as he was being driven to work

The top regional security official in Russia's Caucasus region of Ingushetia was assassinated on Tuesday by unidentified gunmen as he was being driven to work, investigators said.
  
Akhmed Kotiev, head of Ingushetia's Security Council, was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car in an attack that also claimed the life of his driver, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.
  
The attack took place close to the village of Nizhnie Achaluki in Ingushetia, the statement said. Kotiev's driver died on the spot while the security official succumbed to his wounds in a hospital, investigators said.
  
"All possible theories are being looked at but priority is being given to his professional activities," they said in the statement, adding a team of experienced investigators has been dispatched to the region to help solve the crime.
  
The head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov swiftly condemned the attack which he said was related to Kotiev's work to end the violent insurgency against security forces in the region. He said Kotiev had been particularly active in seeking to encourage members of the Islamist underground to return to a normal life.
  
"His work was indeed hugely useful, (it) was successful," Yevkurov said in comments released by his office. "Akhmed Kotiev was not scared of openly expressing his opinion to former members of illegal armed groups and their relatives," he said in the statement. "To find those who committed this murder will be a matter of honour."
  
As a result of Kotiev's work, more than 60 people wanted for various crimes gave themselves up to the authorities, Yevkurov's office said. Around 50 of them were "former members of the criminal underground and their accomplices".