AKIPRESS.COM - Tajik opposition politician and businessman Umarali Kuvatov was buried on March 9 in Istanbul, where media reports said three Tajik men were arrested on suspicion of involvement in his killing last week.

Kuvatov's relatives told RFE/RL that the burial took place at the Kilyos cemetery in a Muslim tradition. Kuvatov's wife, Kumriniso Hafizova, told RFE/RL on March 8 that her husband had been shot in the head on a street in Istanbul by an unidentified attacker last week.

Hafizova confirmed earlier reports saying that on March 5, she, Kuvatov, and their two sons had been invited for dinner at the house of Sulaimon Kayumov, a 30-year-old Tajik citizen who has been residing in Istanbul for several months.

Hafizova said that she, Kuvatov, and their sons felt sick after consuming food offered by Kayumov and rushed out for fresh air. An ambulance eventually arrived at around 10:30 p.m.

When they were outside, Hafizova said, an unidentified man approached Kuvatov from behind and fired a single shot to his head before fleeing. Kuvatov died at the scene.

Hafizova and her two sons were hospitalized and diagnosed with poisoning. According to Hafizova, an autopsy concluded that Kuvatov was poisoned before being shot. 

Turkish media reports said on March 9 that three Tajik men, including Kayumov, had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Kuvatov's killing.

A tycoon who once had close ties with President Emomali Rahmon but became an opponent, Kuvatov was wanted by Dushanbe on fraud charges that he said were politically motivated.

Kuvatov, 47, left Tajikistan in 2012 and stayed in Russia and the United Arab Emirates before moving to Turkey. Tajikistan formally requested his extradition in January.

Group 24, which Kuvatov founded from abroad, has come under increasing pressure in the past year as Rahmon has sought to consolidate his grip on the poor former Soviet republic. Tajikistan's Supreme Court banned Group 24 in October, after the government labeled it an extremist group.