Rio de Janeiro: Russian officials have denied any links to a man who police say wrestled and killed a mugger in Rio on Thursday.
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Civil Police said the man, identified as a lawyer and Russian vice-consul, wrestled a man who tried to rob him at gun point while the diplomat sat in traffic on Avenida das Americas, near the city's main Olympic site in Barra da Tijuca.
Quoting the Homicide Squad, the police statement provided to Fairfax Media said the robber's gun discharged during the fight, killing him.
Local media and news agencies identified the diplomat as Marcos Cesar Feres Braga and said he practised jiu-jittsu.
But on Friday morning, local time, Sergio Hubenko, vice-consul in Rio, denied any Russian involvement in the case.
"That information was wrong. This man has absolutely no link with Russia. He is a Brazilian citizen, not a Russian citizen," Mr Braga told Fairfax Media.
He denied the man could have been an honorary consul in the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais as reported by some Brazilian media and categorically declared his diplomatic identification card as "a fabrication".
"I am absolutely certain of no link," he said.
"The MG honorary consulate closed last year. This man has never had any link to any post," he said. Russian authorities have filed a criminal complaint, he added.
A Civil Police statement to Fairfax Media said the investigation continues and the Russian Consulate will be advised of the results.
Traffic muggings are common in large Brazilian cities where drivers and passengers are advised to keep their windows up and doors locked.
Brazil has deployed 85,000 extra police, including the army and a special National Force, to the streets of Rio and Olympic venues during the Olympics.