Police announced the detention of two suspects in connection with a fatal confrontation in the Gardabani municipality of Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region. The incident occurred shortly after another killing in the same region, in the city of Marneuli, where possible mafia links had been reported.
According to local media, the Gardabani conflict began between two middle-aged men at a wedding feast on 5 January. The incident initially subsided there, but later resumed at the home of one of the men, where the other arrived accompanied by several people.
Eventually, a total of six people became involved in the conflict, including the sons of both men. The Interior Ministry stated that during the fight, one of the six participants stabbed two others, after which another individual deliberately rammed a car into two people.
One person — a middle-aged man who had been among the initial participants of the conflict — was killed after getting hit by the car.
The ministry announced the detention of two people involved in the incident, while three others were ‘exposed’. Most of the participants were hospitalised with various injuries.
Killing in Marneuli with reported mafia links
The Gardabani case was preceded by another fatal incident in the city of Marneuli, also in the Kvemo Kartli region, on 4 January. According to the investigation, the suspect shot at a man and his 27 years-old son at a market in the city, killing the latter.
Local media identified the father as Rafil Bayramov and the deceased son as Sahib Bayramov.
According to TV Formula, at the gold shop where the father and son worked, the attacker entered around midday posing as a customer, and opened fire a few minutes later. Footage of the suspected perpetrator captured by the store’s surveillance camera was soon circulated in local media.
The father of the deceased, who was injured during the shooting, told the TV channel that when the attacker entered the shop, he was wearing headphones, supposedly talking to someone on his phone, whom he asked: ‘Darling, which one should I buy?’
‘He was actually asking who he was supposed to shoot and who the target should be’, Bayramov said, hinting that the attacker’s words may have been a coded message.
‘After he apparently received confirmation, he shot my son, firing several times. I started shouting, asking what he was doing […] then he turned around and shot at me as well’, he added.
The Interior Ministry reported on 7 January that the murder suspect was later detained on the Georgia–Turkey border. The ministry said that Turkish law enforcement officers participated in the arrest alongside Georgian police.
In its statement, the ministry did not comment on the possible motives behind the incident, although suspicions were raised about the involvement of the post-Soviet mafia network, also known as the thieves-in-law.
According to Bayramov, a week before the incident, someone called his son on behalf of a person known as Polada, whom Formula reported is a thief-in-law.
‘A few days ago, someone called my son by Polada’s name and asked if he was Sahib. He said no and hung up, even changed his number. Then this happened’, Bayramov said.
Formula reported that Marneuli business owners have been ‘blackmailed’ by Polada. The channel referred to the 2023 social media reports according to which some Marneuli residents received calls on Polada’s behalf, during which they were blackmailed and pressured to pay a monetary share to the mafia.
After reports circulated, Facebook user Elmar Hesenli claimed that Polada is Polad Omarov, originally from the Dmanisi municipality in Kvemo Kartli, and currently serving time in a US prison. He is one of two individuals who were found guilty by the Manhattan Federal Court of plotting the assassination of US-based Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in October 2025.
Hesenli said he contacted Omarov via his lawyers and asked about the allegations related to the Marneuli murder. He published a letter allegedly penned by Omarov, in which he denied any connection to the killing.
If found guilty, the suspects of both the Gardabani and Marneuli cases could face up to 20 years in prison.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
