According to the police, on February 21, the Akmolinskaya region's Department of Internal Affairs received a notification about a young man suspected of committing a bold robbery in Astana.
"According to information from our capital colleagues, the suspect threatened with a knife, stole cash from the register, and then fled the scene. After receiving the information, patrol officers immediately began checking all vehicles leaving Astana—and it was not in vain. During the operational search activities around 11:15 AM on the 292nd km of the Astana - Petropavlovsk highway, patrol police officers Almas Abdrakhmanov, Ardak Zhakhin, and Bekbolat Kusmetov stopped a Hyundai Tucson," the police reported.
Upon checking the documents, the officers noticed a passenger who fit the description provided in the notification. However, during the conversation, the man introduced himself with a different name.
"Suspecting something was off, the police officers decided to verify his documents. According to Bekbolat Kusmetov, the passenger suddenly closed the window, grabbed a knife, and began to inflict injuries on himself. He then held the knife to the driver, who, as it turned out later, had simply picked him up on the road as a hitchhiker," the Department continued.
By employing combat techniques, the police were able to disarm the attacker. The driver was unharmed.
The suspect was handed over to capital colleagues for further investigation.
Previously, in Kyzylorda, clients attacked a taxi driver, beat him, robbed him, and threw him out of the car.