ASTANA, April 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Kazakhstan's financial police have detained the head of the state railways company on suspicion of taking a bribe, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.
Zhaksybek Kulekeyev, chief executive of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, took over the post in May 2007 after serving as vice president of the national oil and gas company as well as economy minister.
Officials at his company were not available for comment.
"He was detained on Tuesday," the police spokesman said.
Corruption is an endemic problem in Kazakhstan, an oil-rich ex-Soviet state, but high-profile public cases are rare. Arrests of senior figures have in the past sparked speculation over intensified infighting within the political elite.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev urged officials in January to step up their fight against corruption, and mapped out a new "ten steps" policy towards a more accountable society.
The last high-profile case was in February 2007 when Nazarbayev ordered police to investigate activities of his son-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev, who is now in self-imposed exile in Austria facing charges ranging from kidnap to state coup.
Aliyev has told Austrian authorities his life would be in danger if he returned to Kazakhstan. He called the case politically motivated and linked to his presidential ambitions.
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