Several sources close to the Uzbek government and the family of President Shavkat Mirziyoev say the president's son-in-law has been severely injured in a traffic accident.
According to the sources, Otabek Umarov, the husband of Mirziyoev’s daughter, Shahnoza, was paralyzed after he sustained head and leg injuries in a traffic accident in Tashkent on February 13 and that he has since been transported to South Korea for treatment..
The sources also told RFE/RL that President Mirziyoev has ordered an internal investigation into several members of his personal security staff regarding the traffic accident.
Some of the individuals, described by the sources as "athletes" who were with Umarov on the day when the traffic accident took place, are also being investigated. They said an office and a sports hall in Tashkent that are parts of Umarov-controlled business structures have been sealed.
The sources said that Umarov, 36, who is the deputy head of the president's personal security, and "the athletes" had regularly organized car races in the Uzbek capital, "creating dangerous traffic situations."
RFE/RL's attempts to contact the Prosecutor-General's Office, the Interior Ministry, and several Tashkent city officials to get comment on the situation were unsuccessful.
Amid unconfirmed reports about the accident involving Umarov in mid-February, Tashkent police said that "no such traffic accident was officially registered."
