Arm-wrestling champ detained on murder charges after 20 years on run

A former arm wrestling world champion has been detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after more than 20 years on the run from murder charges, investigators said on Wednesday.

Jambul Vibliani, 41, who was expelled to Russia from the United States after his visa expired, was detained in the airport’s customs zone, the Russian Interior Ministry’s Main Criminal Investigation Department reported, without elaborating on the date of detention.

Police seized a Russian passport from Vibliani, which identified him as Roman Tsindeliani.

Vibliani, who won the arm wrestling world champion’s title 12 times, is suspected of a murder carried out in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in 1990. Investigators believe the athlete attacked his victim with a knife following a brawl.

He is also suspected of being involved in a robbery and murder dating back to April 1999.

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