MOSCOW, August 26 - RAPSI. A Moscow district court has arrested former police Lt. Col. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov for masterminding the murder of journalist Anna Politkovsksya, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reports from the courtroom.

According to Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, investigators discovered that in late July 2006, Pavlyuchenkov was paid to mastermind Politkovskayas murder. He organized a gang that included, among others, the three Makhmudov brothers. He bought the weapon, organized the plan, and delegated duties amongst the gang members.

Politkovskaya, well-known for her investigative journalism on human rights offenses in Chechnya, was killed in the elevator of her building in Moscow, on October 7, 2006. Investigators believe her journalistic activities prompted her murder.