Vienna  - Independent journalist Magomed Yevloyev died in custody in Russia's Ingushetia region because authorities wanted to silence him, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Tuesday.

"Yevolyev's death is the culmination of an orchestrated campaign by the authorities of Ingushetia to silence the only critical voice in the region," OSCE Freedom of Media Representative Miklos Haraszti said in a statement.

Yevloyev, owner of the news website ingushetiya. ru, was detained by police on Sunday at the airport in Ingushetia's capital Nazran in connection with an unsolved attack.

Authorities in Nazran said an investigation showed a shot was fired during a scuffle and hit Yevloyev in the head when he tried to grab an officer's gun.

Haraszti said the journalist had been on the same flight as Ingush President Murat Zyazikov, during which he had a heated discussion with the politician.

The OSCE official called on Russian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.

"Russia should live up to its OSCE commitments and support, rather than repress, free debate, free reporting and media pluralism," he said."

Yevloyev was known for his critical stance towards Zyazikov and the Kremlin.

According to the OSCE's statement, a Moscow court ordered Yevloyev's website to shut down last June for allegedly publishing extremist materials. The site's chief editor, Roza Malsagova, left Russia seeking asylum in August, Haraszti said.

Some half-million people, most of them Muslims, live in the impoverished Ingushetia province sandwiched between North Ossetia and Chechnya. The region has been rocked by violence between rebels and security forces. (dpa)