Moscow- Opposition leaders in Russia's southern region of Ingushetia on Monday slammed the death in police custody of a journalist critical of the Kremlin and called for a full inquiry.

"We do not believe in coincidences," a spokesman for the opposition was quoted as saying by the news agency Interfax, a day after Magomed Yevloyev died from a policeman's bullet.

Authorities in the Ingushetia capital of Nazran said an investigation showed the journalist died when he tried to grab the officer's gun.

Yevloyev, owner of the news website ingushetiya. ru, was detained at Nazran airport on Sunday in connection with an unsolved attack.

Police said the shot was fired during a scuffle and hit Yevloyev in the head.

"Why wasn't the gun uncocked? Why wasn't he wearing handcuffs?" the opposition spokesman asked.

The organization Reporters Without Borders also questioned the official version of events. "The explanations given by the Ingush authorities make no sense," it said.

The incident happened amid a dispute over Russian diplomatic recognition of the breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Monday's Kommersant newspaper said the Ingushetia opposition planned to launch a petition for independence from Russia.

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

Yevloyev's website had often been critical of Ingush President Murat Zyazikov. (dpa)