MAKHACHKALA, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - A senior investigator in the capital of the volatile southern Russian republic of Daghestan was fatally shot on Thursday morning, a local Interior Ministry official said.

"[Seifutdin] Kaziakhmedov was shot dead in Makhachkala at about 8 a.m. Moscow time," the official said, adding that police were working at the scene.

He said the attack occurred when Kaziakhmedov and his wife were out jogging. A gunman came out of a car and fired several shots at the investigator with a Makarov pistol.

Kaziakhmedov suffered bullet wounds to the head and heart, and died on the way to the hospital, the official said.

Daghestan has seen frequent attacks on authorities and police carried out by militants believed to be based in neighboring Chechnya. Attacks have also been linked to local clan rivalries and criminal networks.