Moscow, March 7 (IANS): Two persons suspected of murdering Russian politician Boris Nemtsov were detained on Saturday, Russian Security Service (FSB) head Alexander Bortnikov told reporters.

"As a result of the work done, we have detained today two people suspected of committing this crime. They are Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev," Tass quoted Bortnikov as saying. "We have reported it to the president."

The official said that on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, the FSB, the interior ministry and Russia's Investigative Committee organised a joint group for investigation into the murder of Boris Nemtsov.

Nemtsov, a co-leader of the RPR-Parnas party, was gunned down on a bridge in central Moscow at a blank-point range several hundred metres away from the Kremlin minutes before the midnight of Friday, February 27.

The authorities have opened a criminal case over the "murder" and "illegal circulation of firearms." The investigators are pursuing several lines of inquiry, including a contract killing.

On March 3, Nemtsov was buried at Moscow’s Troyekurovo cemetery.