Rovshan Janiev (Azerbaijani: Rövşən Cəniyev; Russian: Ровшан Джаниев, 27 January 1975 – 18 August 2016), also known as Rovshan Lankaransky (Russian: Ровшан Ленкоранский) was an influential Azeri gangster.

Early life

When Janiev was 17, his father, a policeman, was murdered by local gangsters whom he was investigating. An enraged Janiev took a gun to the courtroom where the accused's hearing was being held and threatened to kill him, for which he received two years in prison.

Criminal acts

Later in 2000, he shot dead a prominent Baku crime boss in broad daylight and was subsequently beaten so severely that he developed mental illness. Taking this into account, the court released him after just a few months imprisonment. But fearing for his life, Janiev fled from Azerbaijan to Moscow where he grew more and more powerful within the underworld and eventually controlled all the ethnic Azeri gangs in Moscow, running protection rackets and drug trafficking.

Eventually competition over territory grew with the Caucasian gangs led by Aslan Usoyan. In 2010 an attempt was made on Usoyan's life and it has been theorised that Janiev, who had been arrested trying to enter Ukraine shortly afterwards (where he already controlled some criminal business and had been previously granted refugee status), had a major part in its planning and execution.

In January 2013, after Usoyan's assassination, Janiev, along with Tariel Oniani, was regarded as a primary suspect. Shortly afterwards Astamur Guliya, Abkhaz gangster and ally of Janiev was gunned down in Sukhimi. Janiev himself was reported killed in Istanbul on February 6th, but this claim has been denied by his brother Emil, who claims he is currently alive and well in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2013, Italian law enforcement authorities declared Janiev to Interpol. The report noted that Janiyev is accused of being engaged in organized crime, bribery, money laundering and the forgery of documents.

On August 17th, 2016, Janiev was subject to a new assassination attempt in Istanbul, Turkey, after returning from a trip in Dubai. He was shot in his luxury Range Rover car carrying an Azerbaijan plate in Beşiktaş district. While his driver was killed, Janiev was wounded and transported to Sisli Etfal hospital.