'Free Pussy Riot' band slogan scrawled in blood above dead bodies of two women in Russia

Murder detectives in Russia have discovered the bodies of two women found undeeath a 'Free Pussy Riot' slogan thought to have daubed in their blood on a wall.

The message backing the recently-jailed Russian female punk band was found on an apartment wall above the bodies of a woman, 76, and her 38-year-old daughter in Kazan, weste Russia.

The two women, who are said to have shared a home in the city, are thought to have died from stab wounds between August 24 and 26.

Message: This message was found daubed on a wall - thought to be using the blood of the victims - above the bodies of two women

Probe: Murder detectives sealed the door to the apartment while investigating the deaths of the two women in Kazan, weste Russia

Gruesome: The apartment block in the city of Kazan, Russia, where the bodies of the two women, aged 76 and 38, were found

An investigative committee in Tatarstan said their bodies were discovered on Wednesday.

The murder probe comes a fortnight after female punk band members Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were jailed for two years for a protest against Vladimir Putin.

The trio were found guilty of hooliganism after performing a song critical of the Russian President in one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most important cathedrals.

An investigator cautioned that the killer was possibly trying to mislead police by drawing attention to supporters of the punk protesters.

It did not provide the women"s names and did not reveal details about their occupations or whether they had any connection to the band. Russian tabloid Lifenews quoted an unnamed investigator as saying that the bodies were disfigured by multiple stab wounds.

The jailed band members" attoey said on Twitter that 'what happened in Kazan is horrible,' calling the case 'either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic' case.

'I am sorry that some freaks are using Pussy Riot"s band name,' Nikolai Polozov was further quoted by Interfax as saying.

In mid-August, a Moscow court sentenced three band members to two years in jail for performing a 'punk prayer' against President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow cathedral in February.

The case has polarised Russians. Kremlin-friendly television networks and media covered the 'prayer' in mostly negative terms, and the country"s dominant Orthodox Church called their stunt sacrilegious. But, hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions urging authorities to free the band members.

An investigator in Kazan told a Russian news agency that the murderer was trying to cover up the crime by attributing the murder to the band"s supporters.

The criminal 'was trying to avoid suspicion' by misleading police, Andrey Sheptitsky told RBK Daily.

Kristina Potupchik, a pro-Putin blogger and former spokeswoman for a militant youth group known for its violent pranks against opposition and Kremlin critics, said in a post that the band's supporters 'will not get away' after the killing. She also compared them to U.S. mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses.

Murder scene: It is thought the two woman found dead in the Kazan apartment had been living together

Controversy: Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were sentenced to two years' jail for hooliganism earlier this month

The leader of an Orthodox youth group that has accosted and assaulted Pussy Riot supporters claimed that they are capable of committing \"any\" crime.

'The infeal force that drives them hates God, believers and humankind in general,\" Dmitry Tsorionov told Interfax on Thursday. \"These people are capable of committing any crime, and nothing but force and law can stop them.'

The country's dominant Orthodox Church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions urging authorities to free them.

Several wooden crosses that stood outside Orthodox churches in Russia and neighbouring Ukraine have been toppled by people who claimed to be the band"s supporters. The band"s manager and husband of one of the jailed rockers said the band disapproved of the vandalism.

The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an inteational furore. Celebrities such as Paul McCartney and Peter Gabriel urged Russian authorities to free the band.

A poll released today by the state-run VTsIOM polling agency showed that one third of Russians consider the two-year jail sentence too harsh, while another 31% found it appropriate.