MOSCOW, October 24 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The Moscow District Military Court will begin hearing a case against Khasan Zakayev, an alleged mastermind of the hostage taking at the Dubrovka theater in southeast Moscow in 2002 that left 130 dead, RAPSI learnt in the court on Monday.

Earlier, the Moscow District Military Court has returned the case to prosecutors. To date, repeated investigation is completed; the accused has finished reading case materials.

Investigators claim that Zakayev was a member of a criminal gang headed by Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev and assisted in organizing the terrorist attack and taking of hostages at the theater. In 2002,  he allegedly organized transportation of weapon and homemade explosive devices to Moscow for terrorists.

A group of terrorists led by Movsar Barayev took hostage the audience and participants of the Nord-Ost musical on October 23, 2002.

40 attackers were killed. Zakayev is the only one who was arrested, victims’ lawyer Igor Trunov said earlier.

The majority of hostages were released in an operation planned by Russian security services.

Shamil Basayev who was reportedly killed in 2006 and Gerikhan Dudayev who is still at large are among the organizers of the attack, according to investigators.