Man Who Killed the Brother-in-Law of Vano Siradeghyan Found in Moscow After 18 Years

In Russia, Gegham Machanyan has been accused of murdering the brother of the husband of Vano Siradeghyan’s daughter, the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Armenia. This was reported by photographer Gagik Shamshyan.

The Armenian police had previously announced that the operatives of the Main Criminal Investigation Department had located a 48-year-old man who had been wanted since 2001, registered in Vagharshapat.

On the night of September 7, he was transferred from Moscow to Yerevan under police escort.

According to the website, a criminal case has been initiated against the man on several charges, including murder, banditry, and the illegal appropriation of the title or authority of a public official.

Information from the website indicates that the incident occurred on October 7, 2001. That day, around 9:30 AM, Andranik Kalashyan was approached at a bus stop by a 'Raf' brand car with route number 75. Without any suspicion, he got into the taxi.

Minutes after the vehicle started moving, G. Machanyan and his accomplice, Ashot Zatikyan, attacked Kalashyan inside the car, stealing a bag containing gold jewelry.

At that moment, employees of the Yerevan road police, Armen Barseghyan and Gurgen Gejagoyan, were on duty on Artsakh Avenue and noticed a struggle inside the vehicle, attempting to stop the 'Raf' car. They overtook it with their service vehicle, blocked its path, and forced it to stop.

As they approached the driver to demand documents, Kalashyan, seeing that his assailants had also exited the car, took advantage of the situation, exited the vehicle himself, and tried to retrieve his bag of gold jewelry from the criminals. A struggle ensued, during which A. Zatikyan and G. Machanyan fired shots from firearms, resulting in the deaths of A. Kalashyan and road police officer A. Barseghyan. Afterward, they fled, taking the stolen jewelry with them.

At that time, a criminal case was initiated in the Erebuni division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Machanyan was placed on the wanted list.

According to the website, the deceased road police officer was the brother of the husband of the daughter of then-Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Siradeghyan. The criminals had prior knowledge that Kalashyan, who was engaged in the trade of gold jewelry at the 'Hayastan' supermarket, transported particularly large quantities of gold jewelry from the supermarket to his home daily and had prearranged the robbery that took place on October 7.