Imran Aliyev swore while talking about Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, above

A controversial blogger from Chechnya who once insulted the Kremlin-backed leader of the Russian republic has been found dead from knife wounds in a French hotel room.

The case is likely to prompt comparisons with the assassination of a former Chechen rebel in Berlin last year.

The body of a male guest with “lacerations” was discovered in a room on the top floor of the Coq Hardi hotel in Lille, according to the local newspaper, La Voix du Nord. Police suspect murder.

French officials did not identify the victim but his acquaintances and Russian media said that he was Imran Aliyev, a Chechen émigré who lived in Belgium.

Mr Aliyev, 44, who also used the nickname “Mansur the Old”, was known for posting