MAKHACHKALA, June 20 (RAPSI) - The government of Makhachkala is planning to sue the media for spreading rumors about former mayor Said Amirov having connections with the criminal world, chairman of the city legislature Magomed Magomedrasulov, told RIA Novosti.

Amirov has been the mayor of Makhachkala, the capital of the southern Russian region of Dagestan, since 1998. A long-term member of the ruling United Russia party, Amirov won the title of the country's best mayor in late April, according to his administration's website.

He was arrested on June 1 and transported to Moscow, where he was taken into custody on suspicion of having ordered the murder of investigator Arsen Gadzhibekov in the Dagestan city of Kaspiysk. Amirov has denounced the case as politically motivated.

Gadzhibekov, chief of the investigation department in Makhachkala's Sovetsky District, was shot dead near his home as he was getting out of his car. He had worked on a number of crimes, including the 2010 terror attack in Kizlyar that killed 10 and injured 270.

On June 4, charges were officially brought against Amirov. The investigators believe that he ordered the assassination, which was organized by Magomed Abdulgalimov, assistant city prosecutor of Kizlyar with accomplices.

According to Magomedrasulov, a number of media sources are inflating the arrest story, claiming that the former mayor is linked with criminals, while providing no solid evidence or facts.

The city of Makhachkala will take them to court if needed, he stated.

"We must operate within a legal framework and require that journalists either provide proof of their statements or face liability," Magomedrasulov said.