Shurpayev, a reporter from Russia's volatile North Caucasus republic of Daghestan who worked for Russia's state Channel One, was found stabbed and strangled in his rented Moscow apartment on March 21.
"On Saturday, interior ministry officers detained three Tajik nationals suspected of murdering Shurpayev. The Mukhamadiyev brothers were arrested on Saturday morning in the Vakhdat district, 15 km (9 miles) east of Dushanbe, while the third suspect, Masrurdzhon Yatimov, was detained Saturday night in the Shakhrinav district, 45 km (28 miles) west of the capital," the source said.
Yatimov is believed to be the main suspect in the murder, the source said. "Shurpayev's mobile telephone and watch were found during a search in his house."
On the same day that Shurpayev's body was found, Gadzhi Abashilov, the head of Daghestan's state-run television station, was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car.
Investigators have linked Abashilov's murder to his professional activities, but the motivation behind Shurpayev's murder remains uncertain.
