By some estimates, 20 Protestant churches have been robbed, often violently, in northern Kyrgyzstan recently. A typical raid happened on November 4, the AKIpress crime blotter reported:
About 10 unknown armed people wearing masks attacked the office of the spiritual center of the Seventh Day Adventist Church located on Magadanskaya Street.The unknown people tied up the hands and legs of a guard – 61-year-old Chupakova – with a scarf and took possession of a laptop and a metal safe containing 158,000 soms [about 3,400 dollars].
A watchman was murdered during a church robbery in August. Yet Evening Bishkek reported on October 29 that the robberies are eliciting little police interest (translation via BBC Monitoring):
A wave of robberies has swept Protestant churches in Bishkek and Chui Region. It seems that there is only one single group involved because all the robberies are carried out according to the same scenario. Many pastors and parishioners are frightened: what if their house of worship will be next? Will an end be put to all this?…