Moscow: A gold-plated pistol and a pair of Kalashnikov assault rifles were among the things Russian police found when they arrested a top official in the Dagestan region on suspicion of embezzlement.

Russia's Investigative Committee said the weapons, along with other handguns and ammunition, were found at the home of Abdusamad Gamidov, acting head of the regional government, who is suspected of stealing budget funds earmarked for social programs, according to a website statement. Gamidov and two of his deputies were detained in the case, along with a former member of his government. Lawyers for the men couldn't be reached.

A gold-plated pistol Russian police found when they arrested a top official in the Dagestan region on suspicion of embezzlement. Credit:TASS

The sweep was the latest in a campaign the Kremlin has conducted in the last few years against regional officials suspected of corruption. Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region in the Caucasus Mountains, is one of Russia's poorest regions and a major recipient of aid from the federal government. Several senior officials in the region have been convicted of financial and terrorism charges in the last few years.

"It is a very important consequence of Vladimir Putin's attempt to change the power model for the most important region in the Northern Caucasus and maybe the region as a whole," said Grigory Shvedov, head of the Moscow-based Caucasian Knot research service. "He finally started to replace and remove local clans to put the region under the direct rule of Moscow."

President Putin recently appointed a new president of the republic. Gamidov had been appointed by the previous leader of the region.

Maxim Shevchenko, a member of Putin's Council for Inter-Ethnic Relations, called the latest arrests in Dagestan unprecedented. "The corruption that has been destroying the republic had reached an absolute peak," he said.

Bloomberg