Four Charged In Vendors' Murder In Buryatia

ZAKAMENSK, Russia -- Four people have been officially charged with the premeditated murder and robbery of seven shuttle traders last week in the Russian republic of Buryatia, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor-General's Office announced today that two of the suspects are high-school students from the town of Zakamensk.

One of the other two detainees is a woman. She was released from detention on the condition that she not leave Zakamensk while the murder investigation is being conducted.

The seven traders were found shot dead near Zakamensk on February 2 after having been reported missing for three days. They reportedly had a large sum of money with them when they left Zakamensk for Irkutsk to buy goods on January 30.

The two men and one of the five women killed were ethnic Kyrgyz who also had Russian passports.