Tashkent police deputy dismissed over pressure allegations

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The deputy head of the Almazar district internal affairs department in Tashkent has been removed from office following an internal investigation triggered by a controversial audio recording circulating on social media, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

Deputy Interior Minister Ramazon Ashrapov confirmed the dismissal during a briefing on April 11.

According to the ministry, the investigation was launched after the leak of an audio recording in which an official allegedly demanded that prevention officers artificially inflate crime detection performance indicators.

In the recording, the official reportedly criticized staff for failing to identify individuals engaged in vagrancy and instructed them to achieve targets by any means, including drawing up administrative reports against relatives or creating formal grounds for statistical reporting.

The ministry said senior leadership responded promptly to the incident, and the actions of the official were classified as a serious violation of professional ethics and abuse of authority.

Authorities emphasized that such practices are unacceptable, undermine public trust in internal affairs bodies, and damage the reputation of law enforcement institutions.