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Russian businessman shot dead near Putin's office
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-03 03:12
Gunmen shot dead a prominent Russian businessman in his car on Monday a few hundred metres from the seat of Russia's government, state investigators said.

Shabtai von Kalmanovic, a businessman and president of the Spartak female basketball club, died at the scene, investigators from the state prosecutor's office said in a statement.

More than 20 shots were fired at the car outside Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's office at the Russian White House, the government headquarters, it said.

The killers fled in a car and Kalmanovic's driver, who was wounded, gave chase but had to abandon it because of his wounds.