Robbers crack 25 safes at Investigative Committee office

Three men have targeted a regional office of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office and cracked 25 safes with information on priority criminal cases early morning on Tuesday.

The robbers were after valuable goods, rather than information, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated.

“The examination of the crime scene showed that a TV set and a video camera had been stolen. Materials from criminal cases and evidence remained untouched. Investigators believe the robbers were looking for valuable goods,” spokesperson for the office Vladimir Markin said.

However, Interfax news agency cites an unnamed source in the investigative team, who told the agency that materials of a rather high-profile case could have been stolen.

The traces left by the robbers suggest that they cracked safes one at a time, looked through the papers, and threw away those that were of no interest for them.

“It cannot be ruled out that the robbers targeted a specific criminal case,” the source was quoted as saying.

The same criminals could have committed another crime that night, Markin noted.

“The same night, another crime was committed in the building of the Semashko scientific production association, which is located near the investigative service. The criminals used similar tactics. Investigators have every reason to believe that the same group is responsible for both crimes,” he stated.