Russian police have arrested two suspects in connection with the August bomb attack in central Moscow that killed 12 people, news agencies reported Tuesday citing security officials.
An interior ministry official told ITAR-TASS that investigators believed a gangland war was to blame for the August 8 blast in a busy Moscow underpass, which also injured more than 100 people.
But other possible explanations, including terrorism, are still being considered, the official added.
"At present, police are checking all businesses which rented kiosks in the walkway, but they are also working on the theory of a terrorist act," he said.
Several Russian officials had immediately laid the blame on Chechen rebels fighting Moscow's rule in breakaway Chechnya following the blast.
But police then said it could have been sparked by rivalry between protection racketeers over control of lucrative businesses in the underpass in Moscow's Pushkin Square.
Mafia turf wars and contract killings have become common in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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