The chief engineer of Sulakhydroenergokaskad, a subdivision of RusHydro, was kidnapped in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a policeman from the region said on Friday.

The engineer's driver called police on Thursday at 10:15 Moscow time (06:15 GMT) saying Vladimir Redkin had been kidnapped from his apartment, the police source said.

"Cases of kidnapping, things that we thought we had successfully fought and overcome, have resumed," Dagestani President Magomedsalam Magomedov said.

He expressed concern over the possible connection of the recent attack on the power plant in Kabardino-Balkaria and Redkin's kidnapping.

A group of at least six gunmen set off five bombs with an estimated total of up to 3 kg of TNT at the Baksan Hydropower Plant in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, killing two police officers. The blaze from the blast covered an area of 250 square meters.

"In light of what happened at the Baksan power plant, it causes increased anxiety and concern," Magomedov said.

Sulakhydroenergokaskad, a subdivision of RusHydro, builds smaller hydropower plants in the mountainous regions in the North Caucasus. The Baksan Hydropower Plant also belongs to RusHydro.

MAKHACHKALA, July 23 (RIA Novosti)