KYRGYZSTAN’S former President Almazbek Atambayev, who was detained in raids on his compound last week, was seeking to overthrow the government, Orozbek Opumbayev, the head of the country’s security services, said yesterday.

“His intention was a state coup. I say that officially,” Opumbayev told a news conference in the capital Bishkek.

Atambayev, 62, was detained in a massive security operation last Thursday after a previous attempt to detain him a day earlier failed amid clashes between his supporters and law enforcement that left one special forces officer dead.

The raids came after Atambayev had ignored three police summonses for questioning in connection with the release of a well-known underworld figure during his presidency.

The former president was accused of organizing mass unrest and murdering the officer who was shot dead during the botched raid, Russia’s Interfax reported.

A special commission of the Kyrgyz parliament found that Atambayev could be involved in six crimes during his presidency from 2011 to 2017.

The charges included suspected corruption during the reconstruction of Bishkek’s thermal power station, unlawful taking of land to build his residential house and helping release Chechen criminal Aziz Batukayev.

The Central Asian state is caught in a standoff between the former leader and his protege-turned-foe President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.  (SD-Agencies)