VIDEO/ The moment a businessman is kidnapped in broad daylight in Moscow, put in the trunk of a car

39-year-old technology entrepreneur Areg Shchepikhin, who had published several critical comments on social media about Chechens and Islam, was kidnapped in broad daylight from a train station in central Moscow, Russia.

Footage posted on social media showed several bearded men in suits dragging Shchepikhin out of the lobby of Yaroslavsky station and putting him in the trunk of a vehicle before driving away. This happened in full view of witnesses and security personnel who looked on and did not intervene.

Moscow police said its transport unit had launched an investigation into videos showing "illegal acts against the person".

In a strongly worded Instagram post on Monday, Shchepikhin attacked Chechens and Islam, saying:  "I have defiled your Allah, your Quran and everything you consider sacred."

The Telegram channel Baza, which claims to be linked to Russia's security services, said Shchepikhin was kidnapped "minutes after" posting one of his last videos, which it said may have allowed the suspected kidnappers to identify his location.

Another Telegram channel, Shot, reported that authorities stopped the SUV in which Shchepikhin was located, but that he was no longer in the vehicle.

According to Shot, three of the suspected kidnappers identified themselves to police officers as  "active members of the National Guard who were carrying out an operational procedure."

The men were seen leaving a police station on Wednesday morning, one of whom shouted "Akhmat Sila" or "Akhmat's Power" as they got into the SUV, according to video shared by Shot.

Akhmed Dudayev, Chechnya's minister of information and national policy, said on Wednesday that Shchepikhin "was not kidnapped, but was detained by law enforcement officers cooperating with authorities in Moscow."

He claimed that Shchepikhin's Instagram posts could qualify as several criminal offenses, including insulting the feelings of religious believers and justifying Nazism.

Images of Shchepikhin released on Wednesday show him with a bruised face and walking with difficulty.

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