Ex-security chief turns up dead in Armenia

Armenian investigators on Friday said they had found the dead body of a former security chief bearing a gunshot wound, but they did not elaborate about possible foul play.

"The body of the former director of the National Security Service Grigory Kutoyan was found with traces of a gunshot wound," the south Caucasus country's investigative committee said in a statement.

The 39-year-old was the second senior ex-security official to turn up dead recently after a former police chief was also discovered in September with a gunshot wound.

From 2011-2016 Kutoyan worked as an aide to Armenia's former president Serzh Sarkisyan, who was ousted following a popular uprising in 2018 after he tried to remain in power by switching to prime minister.

Kutoyan headed the security service for two years up to 2018 when he lost his job following Armenia's "velvet revolution".

His successor as security chief, Artur Vanetsyan, complained that many documents were missing from the files. Last year he too was sacked.

Former police chief Hayk Harutyunyan, who headed the force from 2003 to 2008, was found dead at his home with a gunshot wound to the head.