Kazakhstan's ex-Nat´l security chief detained for treason amid unrest

Karim Masimov, former chairman of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, has been detained on suspicion of high treason, the committee announced Saturday, reported Xinhua.

Masimov and unnamed others were placed in a temporary detention center on Thursday and the committee has launched a pre-trial investigation, it said in a statement on its website.

The former senior official was put into custody when violent protests sparked by fuel price hikes were rocking Kazakhstan and led to multiple deaths and many injuries.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday that the constitutional order had been largely restored in the Central Asian country after days of stormy riots.