A senator from the ruling party in Russia has been arrested on suspicion of ordering a murder, DPA reported.

The Federation Council, the Upper House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, voted in favor of revoking the immunity of Senator Dmitriy Saveliev, a spokesman for the parliament said yesterday. He was arrested immediately after leaving the meeting, TASS reported.

According to the Russian prosecutor's office, in August of last year, the senior politician ordered a hit man to kill a businessman. The plot was discovered, but for tactical reasons during the investigation it was still claimed that the crime had actually been committed.

- The murder was staged by the security authorities to reveal the person who ordered it and the organizers, said a spokesman for the prosecution.

It is claimed that Saveliev paid for the murder, which according to the newspaper "Izvestia" cost 100.000 dollars.

The senator is a 53-year-old former oil company executive who belongs to President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. Since 2016, he has represented the Tula region in the Federation Council, and before that he was a member of the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament.

In recent weeks, there have been several spectacular arrests of high-ranking officials from the Russian elite for alleged corruption. However, action against a senator on suspicion of murder is unusual.

In the 90s of the last century, many economic conflicts in Russia were resolved by contract killings, DPA reminds.