Bekmurod Abdullayev (left) and Rustam Tursunov. Photo: xabar.uz.
Former Deputy Interior Minister of Uzbekistan Bekmurod Abdullayev and former head of the Interior Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Sentences, Rustam Tursunov, have been detained, Kun.uz reported, citing its own sources.
The reasons for their detention have not been disclosed. According to Kun.uz, both men are involved in the same criminal case.
Abdullayev served as deputy interior minister and head of the Public Security Department from April 2021. Tursunov assumed his post in February of the same year. Both officials were dismissed by presidential decree on November 3, 2025.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also confirmed the detentions on January 27 at a meeting devoted to developing effective measures to combat organized crime, the shadow economy, drug trafficking, and cybercrime.
According to the president, investigations uncovered the embezzlement of 186 billion sums (about $15.5 million) in budget funds within the Interior Ministry system through public procurement schemes.
Mirziyoyev said the disclosures were the result of a newly introduced compliance and internal anti-corruption control system implemented in the Presidential Administration and state institutions. In a short period, the system has identified corruption-related damage nationwide totaling 4.2 trillion sums (about $350 million).
As part of these cases, 1.3 trillion sums (about $108.3 million) have been recovered, and 55 officials have been arrested. Identified arrears related to budget revenues, embezzlement, and financial shortfalls amounted to 53 trillion sums, while violations linked to foreign trade operations exceeded $8 billion.
“Know this: effective control will be established over every state sum. Responsibility is inevitable, and punishment will be severe,” Mirziyoyev warned.
The president also sharply criticized the work of law enforcement agencies in Tashkent. Rustam Sultankhodjayev, head of the Tashkent City Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, and Aziz Urmonov, the acting city prosecutor, were reprimanded and placed on six-month probationary periods. Mirziyoyev said that despite sufficient resources in the capital, law enforcement leaders have failed to set an example for the rest of the country and continue to rely on outdated working methods.
For unsatisfactory performance, Deputy Interior Minister for Information Technologies Zarif Kurbonov and the head of the national Prevention Department, Khayrullo Kodirov, were dismissed.
Bekmurod Abdullayev headed the Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for Patrol and Public Order from November 2019. From April 2020 to April 2021, he served as first deputy commander of the National Guard.
Rustam Tursunov led the Jizzakh regional police department in 2017–2018 and subsequently headed the Navoi regional police department until his appointment as chief of the Department for the Execution of Sentences.
