Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Sunday the search for Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov will continue despite the recently spread rumors on his death.
The reports said Chechen warlord Umarov, who claimed responsibility for the deadly Moscow metro bombings in March, could have been killed in a special operation two weeks ago. A source in the Russian special services refuted the rumors saying there were 'no facts.'
"Police are continuing the search for the gang leader and the search will go on until he is killed or detained despite [rumors] that he died, ran or is hiding in a hole," Kadyrov told reporters commenting on the information on Umarov's death.
"It is possible that he [Umarov] might have died or been killed. It is highly likely that he hopes to distract attention and run somewhere," the Chechen leader said adding: "I am sure that sooner or later he will be either buried or put in 'the holding cell'."
In the past years, there were several reports about the death of Umarov, currently Chechnya's most wanted terrorist leader, but all they proved to be false.
The majority of notorious North Caucasus militant leaders, including Shamil Basayev, Khalim Saidullayev, Aslan Maskhadov, Emir Ibn al Khattab and others, have been killed in the past ten years, RIA Novosti.