Rovshan Janiyev
Rovshan Janiyev , also known as Rovshan Lankaransky, was an Azerbaijani gangster of Talysh descent.
Early life
He was an ethnic Talysh. When Janiyev was 17 years old, his father, a policeman, was murdered by local gangsters whom he was investigating. In 1996 during the court hearing, upon hearing the accused threatening his family, Janiyev pulled out a gun and killed him in court. He was sentenced to two years in prison.Janiyev was "crowned" in 2002 on the initiative of thief in law Mirseymur Abdullaev, also a Talysh man. An informant for Novaya Gazeta told that “all his people” were Talyshis.
Criminal acts
Later in 2000, he shot a prominent Baku crime boss in broad daylight and was subsequently beaten so severely that he developed a mental illness. Taking this into account, the court released him after just a few months imprisonment. Fearing for his life, Janiyev fled from Azerbaijan to Moscow where he grew more and more powerful within the underworld and eventually controlled all the ethnic Azerbaijani gangs in Moscow, running protection rackets and drug trafficking.Eventually competition over territory grew with the Caucasian gangs led by Aslan Usoyan. In 2010 an attempt was made on Usoyan's life and it has been theorized that Janiyev, who had been arrested trying to enter Ukraine shortly afterwards, had a major part in its planning and execution.
In January 2013, after Usoyan's assassination, Janiyev, along with Tariel Oniani, was regarded as a primary suspect. Shortly afterwards Astamur Guliya, an Abkhaz gangster and ally of Janiyev, was gunned down in Sukhumi. Janiyev himself was reported killed in Istanbul on 6 February, but this claim was denied by his brother Emil, who claimed he was alive and well in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2013, Italian law enforcement authorities reported Janiyev's presence in the country to Interpol. In a law enforcement report, Janiyev was accused of being engaged in organized crime, bribery, money laundering and forgery of documents.