Group Extorting Money from Taxi Drivers Detained in Tashkent Region — Interior Ministry

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — An organized criminal group that extorted money from taxi drivers operating routes to the Yashnabad district of the capital has been detained in the Tashkent region following a complaint by a local resident, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan reported.

According to the Interior Ministry, members of the group, using threats, unlawfully imposed a monthly fee on drivers for the right to operate routes from the Tashkent region to Tashkent city. They systematically obstructed vehicle movement and exerted psychological and physical pressure on the drivers.

Among those detained is 37-year-old Tashkent native Sherzod Umaraliyevich Alimkulov, known by the nickname “Bychok,” who has previously been convicted three times under Article 277 of the Criminal Code for hooliganism.

The ministry уточнил that in one of the incidents, Alimkulov and his accomplices assaulted the driver of a Damas vehicle, causing bodily injuries, and then forcibly seized the car keys, depriving the victim of his only source of income.

Case materials indicate that the complainant was also intimidated with threats of serious harm to his life and health. In order to continue operating routes to the Yashnabad district, he handed over US$810 to the perpetrators as an advance payment for two months. Later, due to his inability to make further payments, he was arbitrarily barred from working on the route.

A criminal case has been opened against the alleged leader of the group and his accomplices under Article 165, Part 2, paragraph “v” of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, which covers extortion committed by a group of persons acting in prior collusion. Investigative actions are under way.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has urged citizens who may have suffered from the actions of this criminal group to contact law enforcement agencies or call 102.