Ikhtiyor Abdullayev, 53, fired on February 11, has now been made object of a criminal investigation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Uzbek service, Ozodlik reported. The broadcaster has cited three anonymous sources close to the government as saying a dozen people working under Abdullayev have been arrested.

While according to official sources, the chief of Uzbekistan’s security services has been removed from his post — on health grounds.

It was reported that Abdullayev, who had headed the State Security Service, or SSS, for just one year, has been replaced by outgoing Defense Minister Abdusalam Azizov. In its explanation for this personnel reshuffle it was reported that Abdullayev had undergone two serious back operations over the past year.

The security services underwent a major shakeup at the start of 2018, when President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made a move many had considered risky by replacing Rustam Inoyatov, who ran the agency for 22 years. Inoyatov’s removal paved the way for the substantial dilution of the body.

In a symbolically freighted move, even the name of the organization was modified — from National Security Service to State Security Service. 

If Ozodlik’s reporting bears out, however, even these adjustments were not enough to ensure unconditional loyalty. The outlet’s sources state variously that Abdullayev is suspected of bribery and abuse of office. The case against him was reportedly opened on February 8 by the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Moreover, Ozodlik says that its sources say that Abdullayev fell out of favor after it was allegedly discovered that he was tapping the president’s phone calls and conducting surveillance on the president’s family.

Nevertheless, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was successful in minimizing the body’s role in conditioning society and the media. He removed security service agents posted in diplomatic missions abroad. Media has been permitted tentatively to engage in more robust, public interest reporting. Many political prisoners and long-jailed rights activists have been released from prison. And the government has nominally ditched the practice of keeping blacklists of people believed to belong to pious Islamic movements.

Azizov, the freshly appointed 59-year-old SSS chairman, is known to be a trusted loyalist to President Mirziyoyev. His career has flourished in the last couple of years. In January 2017, he was named Interior Minister and was then moved to the Defense Ministry in September that same year.