Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained two residents of Saratov over charges of setting a signal control cabinet on fire on a railway track, local media outlet Free News reports, citing the law enforcement officers.
“In the evening of 16 March, a message came in from the employees of the Privolzhskaya Railway about two signal control cabinets, used to auto block the traffic lights interval regulation system, being on fire on the ‘Zorinsky — Trofimovsky 2’ rail line, located in the Leninsky district of Saratov,” the press service of the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.
The law enforcement officers found that an arson of a cabinet had been committed. The FSB claims that it was set on fire by a 55-year-old man with previous convictions and his 42-year-old accomplice. A criminal case on intentional damage of property has been initiated against him.
Telegram channel SHOT reports that the detainees are 56-year-old Samwel Pogosyan and 42-year-old Alexey Kochetkov. According to the media, Kochetkov has previous convictions, including car theft, causing severe bodily harm, and murder. While he allegedly was looking for work, he was approached via Telegram with an offer to damage the signal control cabinet.
“I contacted a person via an ad, looking for work. He replied to me, asking in what city. I texted back that I was looking for work in Saratov. He responded, saying that there is a job — to damage some property — and made me an offer, texting me a photograph of the thing I needed to damage. The cabinets near the railway were what was in the photo,” Kochetkov told the FSB.
