Terror on a bus in Baku, a “glass” violating the plan, a crazy Armenian terrorist…
On September 8, 1984, at approximately 1:50 p.m., an explosion occurred in an Ikarus-28001 (two-passenger) bus operating on Route 106 in Baku. A homemade bomb injured four passengers and killed one of them, Fatma Surkhalizade.
Investigators of the State Security Service noticed a glass-shaped metal object found in the passenger compartment of the bus. It turns out that this item, made of cast iron, with a height of 200 mm, a diameter of 100 mm, a wall thickness of 8 mm and a base thickness of 10 mm, with a threaded lid, acted as a container of explosives.
Investigators visiting all the factories in Baku found a lathe that made the item. It turns out that the lathe maker made it to order and received a salary of 15 manat. During the Soviet era, it was common to carry out such orders using the materials of the state, the machine of the state, and this was called “chah-chuk” among the people.
On the basis of the information provided by the lathe operator, on September 19, the customer, Henrikh Surenovich Vartanov, born in 1959 in Baku, was arrested. He initially said he made the bomb himself, but during an investigative experiment it turned out that he could not. Desperate, Henry captures his accomplice.
On September 21, the second participant in the crime, Igor Mikhailovich Makhovsky, a first-year student of the Faculty of Electromechanics of the Institute of Petroleum and Chemistry, born in 1960 in Baku, was arrested. During an investigative experiment, Maxovsky proved his ability to make a bomb.
It is clear from the statements that Vartanov and Makhovsky met two months before the crime, in July, on the Seaside Boulevard. Was this acquaintance purely a coincidence, or did Vartanov try to get acquainted with Makhovsky, knowing that he was studying at the Faculty of Electromechanics, but, unfortunately, the materials at our disposal do not answer this question. It is also unclear when and why Vartanov planned such a crime. But it is clear that Henryk soon shares his plan with Igor, and he agrees with astonishing haste.
Vartanov’s knowledge of explosives was simple. He just wanted to use sulfur as a detonator. It was Maxovsky who suggested adding manganese and magnesium to sulfur to increase the power of the explosion. The couple goes to Baku airport to get magnesium and buy a decommissioned tire for money. By rubbing this disc with food, magnesium powder is obtained.
But a third party was needed to make the glass. Makhovsky also initiated the production of this vessel from cast iron. He says cast iron is a “more fragile and easily broken” metal. Therefore, it will break during the explosion and the fragments will injure many people. Igor also makes the dimensions of the “glass”.
Vartanov finds a lathe named Khalkovsky and shows him a sketch drawn by Makovsky and orders it. During the investigation, it became clear that the lathe operator had fulfilled the order. The walls, base and lid of the “glass” are made thicker than ordered. The master’s reckless approach will result in fewer injuries during the crime.
The “glass” will be delivered to the customer on September 6. Makhovsky uses a Slava alarm clock, three Element-373 batteries and other products to make a clock bomb. After two tests of how well the mechanism (without explosives) works, it is decided to commit an act of terrorism.
According to the investigation, on September 8, at about 12 o’clock, Henrikh Vartanov boarded a bus with registration number 90-11 AGT on route 106 at the bus stop near the collective farm market in Montin and drove to the bus stop near the statue of Azizbayov. When he leaves the bus, he puts the bomb on the seat.
When the bus was moving in the opposite direction, shortly after the stop in front of the Jafar Jabbarli cinema, an explosion occurred in front of the Polytechnic Institute (now the Technical University). There were only 19 people on the two-passenger bus, 12 of whom were in the first room where the blast occurred.
The “glass” did not break as a result of the lathe operator’s order and making it thicker. It just broke the lid. As a result, relatively few people were injured: one was seriously injured, two were moderately injured and one was slightly injured. Fatma Kamil gizi Surkhalizadeh, 37, who was seriously injured, was able to testify in the investigation, but later died.
During the investigation, it became clear that Henrikh Vartanov was discharged from the army early due to schizophrenia. After an examination in Baku, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital named after Serbsky in Moscow. The opinion given here confirmed that he had schizophrenia.
According to the verdict of the Judicial Board on Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan dated May 15, 1985, Vartanov Henrikh Surenovich was released from criminal liability and sent to compulsory treatment in a special psychiatric hospital. Makhovsky Igor Mikhailovich was sentenced to 15 years in prison. There is no information about their future…