Russian MP denies illegal hunting after shot elk found in car

Police say Communist party's Valery Rashkin claimed to have found animal after it had been killed

An MP with Russia's opposition Communist party is under investigation for allegedly hunting without a licence after police found the dismembered remains of an elk in the boot of his car.

Valery Rashkin confirmed to local media that he was stopped by police while driving in Russia's Saratov region with the elk carcass in his trunk but said he and a travel companion did not shoot the elk and had planned to report the animal's death to police.