NCOC employee murder: Suspect detained in Atyrau

Police have detained a suspect in the brutal killing of Bibigul Shpanova, a manager at the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), in Atyrau. Physical evidence was recovered from a 38-year-old man, according to the regional police department.

«A man born in 1987 has been detained on suspicion of murdering a woman born in 1979 in her apartment and has been placed in a temporary detention facility,» the police department said in a statement.

A criminal case has been opened under the murder statute of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code. The investigation is now under the direct oversight of the regional police leadership.

Authorities have urged the public to rely only on official sources for information and to avoid spreading unverified reports.

On April 29, the body of a woman showing signs of violent death was discovered in an apartment at the French Quarter residential complex in Atyrau. According to the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights (KIBHR), the victim was 46-year-old Bibigul Shpanova, head of the development planning department at NCOC, the operator of the Kashagan oil field. Her body had multiple stab wounds, and a safe in her home had been opened.

Following the incident, residents of the French Quarter have called for enhanced security measures in the apartment complex.