MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – The body of a central Russia regional lawmaker has been discovered stuffed into a barrel of cement near Moscow, investigators said on Monday.

Mikhail Pakhomov, 36, a legislator in the Lipetsk city parliament with the ruling United Russia party, was reported missing early last week and a murder investigation was opened.

“Pakhomov’s body was discovered in a barrel of cement near the village of Obukhovo in the Moscow Region district of Noginsk,” an Investigative Committee spokesperson told RIA Novosti. The barrel was in the basement of a private garage, the spokesperson added.

Twelve people have been arrested in connection with his death, investigators also said.

Investigators said Yevgeny Kharitonov, 40, a former Moscow Region housing utilities official, is suspected of ordering Pakhomov’s murder. Kharitonov was arrested earlier on Monday on board a flight from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport to the south Russia city of Krasnodar as the plane was preparing for take-off.

Kharitonov is believed to have ordered Pakhonov's murder over unpaid debts, investigators said. 

A number of Pakhomov’s personal possessions were discovered in a vehicle pulled over by traffic police near Moscow last Thursday. Police searched the vehicle after the driver began “acting strangely.”

The investigation is ongoing.

Pakhomov had been a United Russia member since 2003.

Updates with suspected motive