Law enforcement agencies in Uzbekistan's Samarkand region have thwarted an attempted contract killing.

Investigators said officers from the Interior Ministry, the State Security Service, and the Prosecutor’s Office uncovered a plot organized by a 22-year-old resident of Tashkent following a personal dispute, The Caspian Post reports via Uzbek media.

The suspect allegedly sought to hire a hitman to kill his relative, agreeing on a payment of $2,200 with what turned out to be an undercover operative.

On January 27, the man was detained red-handed after handing over $2,000 and receiving staged photo “evidence” of the supposed killing. Authorities established that the motive was a debt dispute: the intended victim is the suspect’s superior at a company where he works.

A criminal case has been opened under Article 97-25 (Attempted Murder) of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code. Law enforcement officials stressed that intentional homicide is classified as a particularly grave crime, carrying penalties that can extend to life imprisonment.