Russian investigators work near the scene of a car bomb blast in the city of Kazan July 19, 2012. The most senior Islamic official in Russia's largely Muslim Tatarstan region was wounded in a car bomb attack and his deputy was killed in a separate shooting on Thursday, law enforcement officials said.  REUTERS
Russian investigators work near the scene of a car bomb blast in the city of Kazan July 19, 2012. The most senior Islamic official in Russia's largely Muslim Tatarstan region was wounded in a car bomb attack and his deputy was killed in a separate shooting on Thursday, law enforcement officials said. — Photo by Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors say four people suspected of killing a top Muslim cleric and wounding another in Tatarstan province have been detained.   

Valiulla Yakupov, the deputy to the province’s chief mufti, was gunned down Thursday in the regional capital of Kazan. Minutes later, chief mufti Ildus Faizov suffered leg wounds after an explosive device ripped through his car.

Both clerics were known to be critics of the radical Islamist groups that have mushroomed in recent years in this predominantly Muslim Volga River province of 4 million people. Faizov has also been criticized by Tatarstan media for allegedly profiting from tours he organized for Muslim pilgrims.

The Investigative Committee said Friday that one of the suspects owned a company that organized hajj pilgrimages, and another one heads a religious institution in Tatarstan.

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