Russian Government Building Stormed

[Rose Siding]

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia -- Protesters stormed the government building Tuesday in a volatile southern Russian region amid rising anger over a multiple slaying that led to the detention of the regional president's son-in-law, police said.

About 2,000 people, including elderly women in head scarves, smashed metal barriers against the building's doors, shattering the glass panels, according to video shown on Russian state television. The crowd then pried open the doors and entered the building, seizing the office of Karachayevo-Cherkessiya President Mustafa Batdyev, the region's Interior Ministry said.

The NTV television channel said Batdyev fled through a back door. Regional police said that no officials had been in the building at the time of the protest.
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The protest began after prosecutors said they had discovered a common grave that appeared to contain fragments of the men's bodies.

Relatives of the victims say the men disappeared Oct. 10 after being summoned to a meeting at a cottage belonging to Ali Kaitov, Batdyev's son-in-law. Investigators found bullet casings and bullet holes in a search of the cottage. Neighbors also reported hearing automatic gunfire.

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