The Chisinau police arrested three Azeri men who are suspected of blackmail. Their victim is a 49-year-old man from Azerbaijan who trades in citrus fruit on the markets of Chisinau. The man alerted the police after he was ill-treated and threatened with death, IPN reports.

The man told the police that he was threatened with a knife, forced out of the house and taken to an unknown place by a car. There he was maltreated and threatened with death during several hours. He was blackmailed into giving 12,000 lei, over US$5,000 and a watch to the value of 13,000 lei.

A criminal case was started over blackmail. The suspects are investigated under arrest. The police said they tried to put up resistance during the arrest.