Kazakh president's son-in-law faces abduction charges

"The head of state has personally directed the general prosecutor and interior minister to thoroughly investigate the case, regardless of [the man's] position or status," Bagdad Kozhakhmetov said.

Rakhat Aliyev, 44, the husband of Nazarbayev's elder daughter, is Kazakhstan's ambassador to Austria and a shareholder of Nurbank, one of the country's largest banks.

Aliyev is also co-owner, with his wife, of a number of media outlets in Kazakhstan, in particular the weekly Karavan, KTK TV company, and news agency Kazakhstan Today.

According to media reports, the case relates to the abduction of Alibmazhen Gilimov, former chairman of Nurbank's board of directors, and Zholdas Timraliyev, its former first deputy chairman. RIA Novosti