Top Russian rights activist says detained, beaten

NAZRAN, Russia (Reuters) - A senior Russian rights activist said he and a television crew had been abducted and beaten by security agents in the southern region of Ingushetia, just hours before a protest against police brutality.

Oleg Orlov of rights group Memorial told Reuters he and a film crew from the REN-TV channel were snatched from their hotel rooms in the Ingushetian town of Nazran by a group of masked and armed men who said they were from an anti-terrorist unit.

Ingushetia borders Chechnya, where Russian troops have fought separatists in two wars since 1994, and is increasingly plagued by kidnappings and murders. Russia has reinforced its security presence as a result.

"They kept us in a truck for several hours, then took us out of the truck outside the town and beat us. Then they drove away leaving us in a field," Orlov told Reuters.

Ekho Moskvy radio station reported that one of the TV crew members had concussion.

Orlov said the kidnappers were from the security forces or the police, whom he accused of employing scare tactics before a planned mass opposition demonstration across the country.

"It was a blatant action of intimidation, they get paranoid," he said.

The police were not available for comment.

Later on Saturday, 200-300 people protested in Nazran against police violence, part of a national wave of demonstrations that also saw 3,000 protesters gather in Moscow. They accused the police of violence and corruption.