The suicide bomber who blew himself up at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport had earlier served under the Russian Interior Ministry, a force commander, Nikolai Rogozhkin, said on Tuesday.
The powerful blast that ripped through the international arrivals hall of Russia's largest airport on January 24 killed 36 people and injured over 100. The attack came less than 12 months after the deadly twin Moscow subway bombings.
DNA tests revealed that Magomed Yevloyev, a 20-year-old resident of the impoverished southern Russian region of Ingushetia, was the attacker. His brother and sister were arrested after detectives found traces of explosives on their hands.
"He [Yevloyev] served just three months in a police regiment in Vladivostok [Russia's Far East]. He was relieved due to poor health," Rogozhkin said, adding that Yevloyev was suffering from a stomach ulcer.
His coworkers claimed Yevloyev was feigning his illness, he said.
Earlier media reports said Yevloyev was conscripted to the Army in November 2009, but he retired from military service on medical grounds. Since then, he remained at home and neither worked nor studied.
Russian Kommersant daily said that five days ahead of the deadly attack Yevloyev had returned to his home village of Ali-Yurt where he received an explosive device before traveling on a bus to Moscow.
MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti)
