A member of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov’s security staff, Alikhan Muzayev, has died in Chechnya, according to several media outlets citing a local local law enforcement official. It is unclear in which unit of the security staff he served.

According to the reports, the 37-year-old security guard was arrested in the village of Kurchaloy during the special operation conducted by Chechen security forces on 11 January against a group allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State. He was reportedly taken to the district police station, where he managed to take a gun from one of his captors and shot himself.

Contrary to the usual practice in Chechnya, his body was handed over to relatives and was buried in the family cemetery. The family was allowed to organise a small funeral, but without the involvement of outsiders. This is perhaps the only case in which the authorities have allowed a person accused of involvement with the Islamic State to be buried in accordance with their families wishes.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Muzayev was shot during the security operation. He published a photo collage on his Odnoklassniki.ru profile on 18 December with the caption, ‘death is so close’.