Youths Suspected of Armed and Masked Robberies Arrested

According to SHAMSHYAN.com, on December 9, following the decision of Colonel Mher Vardanyan, head of the Kotayk Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, senior investigators Tigran Baghdasaryan and Housik Karapetyan submitted requests to the Kotayk region's first-instance court to impose a two-month remand for 23-year-old Edgar Khurshudyan from Yerevan, as well as 21-year-old Andranik Khlkhatyan, 27-year-old Artyom Hovhannisyan, and 27-year-old Gurgen Mesropyan from Gyumri.

As reported by photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, the court held closed sessions and upon returning from deliberations, granted the investigators' requests, resulting in the aforementioned individuals being detained. They are suspected of committing several masked and armed robberies, resembling weapons and knives, that have recently shaken the country.

Investigators also uncovered a portion of the stolen goods, along with masks and objects used as weapons, including knives.

According to G. Shamshyan's report, among those arrested, E. Khurshudyan is the grandson of 75-year-old Manya Kh. from Mayakovski village in Kotayk, who was a victim of one of the robberies, while G. Mesropyan and A. Hovhannisyan are serving in the Armenian Ministry of Defense's N military unit as contract servicemen.