It seems that Janysh Bakiyev, the brother of ousted former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, wasn’t a very nice guy: top Kyrgyz government officials are now painting Janysh out to be a sadist.

Kyrgyz Interior Ministry Zarylbek Rysaliev alleged at a press conference on September 14 that Janysh orchestrated the murder of one of his brother’s top advisors, Medet Sadyrkulov, whose charred body was found in a burnt-out car outside the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in March of 2009.

Investigators back in 2009 said Sadyrkulov died in an auto accident. But Rysaliev characterized Sadyrkulov’s death as a premeditated murder, carried out on the order of Janysh Bakiyev. Janysh attended the slaying and personally tortured Sadyrkulov, Rysaliev claimed. Sadyrkulov once served as President Bakiyev’s “grey cardinal,” but the family reportedly turned on him after he resigned his post in January 2009 and made overtures to the opposition.

The unfolding scandal surrounding Sadyrkulov’s death has the potential to influence the presidential election, which is slated for October 30. At least 17 Kyrgyz officials have already been detained in connection with the murder – including the former-deputy head of the Border Guards Service, Zamir Moldoshev, and Aibek Abdrazakov, the ex-head of the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Organized Crime Department.

More arrests may be in the offing. The Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing a source in the Interior Ministry, reported that the former head of the Security Council, the ex-attorney general and ex-interior minister are likely to be questioned, perhaps even detained.

The former Security Council chief is Adakhan Madumarov, who is currently a leading presidential candidate. The former prosecutor-general, Elmurza Satybaldiev, oversaw the original investigation that attributed Sadyrkulov’s death to an auto accident. The former interior minister, Moldomusa Kongantiev, is already under house arrest in connection with his actions during the April 2010 protests that toppled Bakiyev’s administration.

Janysh’s whereabouts are unknown, but unconfirmed reports suggest he is in Belarus with his brother Kurmanbek.