Russian police arrested for kidnapping

Four Russian police officers were arrested on Saturday for kidnapping a man from outside his Moscow home and driving off with him in the boot of their car, authorities said.

The victim’s wife raised the alert when she saw her husband bundled into an unmarked car by four men dressed in camouflage gear, a police spokesman told RIA Novosti.

The victim was found alive in the back of the car, which had false number plates, and four suspects were arrested.

Investigators discovered that the four men were officers from Northern Moscow district, and they were charged with abduction, a prosecution official told Echo of Moscow radio.

The chief of the district police force was fired, the police spokesman said. The motive for the kidnapping was not known.

The incident is the latest embarrassment for Russia’s corruption-plagued law enforcement agencies.

In March, Moscow’s police chief was forced to apologise after motorists were ordered to move their vehicles into the path of a high-speed car chase.

President Dmitry Medvedev identified reform of judiciary and law enforcement agencies as a top priority shortly after he took office in May 2008, and he launched a high-profile crackdown in February this year.