The Kazakh special services detained a foreign intelligence agent who was planning to assassinate Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the National Security Committee (NSC) of the Republic of Kazakhstan said on Sunday. 

"On March 25, 2022, in the city of Nur-Sultan, the NSC counterintelligence detained a foreign intelligence agent… who was planning an assassination attempt on the President of Kazakhstan and a number of high-ranking civil servants," the NSC press service said in a statement.

A foreign-made sniper rifle, drugs, and a large amount of money were seized from the suspect during the search, the release stated. 

During the preliminary investigation, the suspect admitted to planning terrorist acts against members of special and law enforcement agencies and to have worked on promoting anti-Russia propaganda in Kazakhstan by publishing relevant materials on social networks, "on the instructions and in the interests of a foreign state."

Read more: High-ranking officials among participants in coup attempt in Kazakhstan: Tokayev

Riots started in Kazakhstan when thousands of demonstrators took to the street to protest against the surging gas prices in the Central Asian nation. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev then declared a state of emergency in the west of the country and Almaty.

The protests shortly took a violent turn, and President Tokayev appealed to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for help in quelling protests across the country, which he said were led by "terrorist gangs".