irements. They took cognisance of the merits of those complaints by interviewing the applicant and the police officers and examining the inquiry materials and upheld the conclusions of the prosecutor (see Vladimir Fedorov v. Russia, No. 19223/04, § 47, 30 July 2009). The Government did not argue that in pursuing this avenue of judicial review, the applicant had removed from the courts the option of examining the relevant issues (compare Akulinin and Babich v. Russia, No. 5742/02, § 32, 2 October 2008). In those circumstances, where the courts have already embarked on the analysis of the applicant's complaints, the Court does not find it unreasonable that the applicant did not lodge the same complaints with the same courts (see Vladimir Fedorov, cited above, § 49). Bearing this in mind, the Court considers that it has not been established with sufficient certainty that the remedy advanced by the Government could have been effective in the particular circumstances of the present case (see Vladimir Fedorov and Akulinin and Babich, both cited above, §§ 49 and 32, respectively).
108. In the light of the foregoing, the Court dismisses the Government's preliminary objection as to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.
2. The alleged breach of Article 3 under its procedural limb
(a) General principles
109. The Court reiterates its settled case-law to the effect that where an individual raises an arguable claim that he has been seriously ill-treated in breach of Article 3, that provision, read in conjunction with the State's general duty under Article 1 of the Convention to "secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in... [the] Convention", requires by implication that there should be an effective official investigation. An obligation to investigate "is not an obligation of result but of means": not every investigation should necessarily be successful or come to a conclusion which coincides with the claimant's account of events; however, it should in principle be capable of leading to the establishment of the facts of the case and, if the allegations prove to be true, to the identification and punishment of those responsible.
110. The investigation of arguable allegations of ill-treatment must be thorough. That means that the authorities must always make a serious attempt to find out what happened and should not rely on hasty or ill-founded conclusions to close their investigation or as the basis of their decisions. They must take all reasonable steps available to them to secure the evidence concerning the incident, including, inter alia, a detailed statement concerning the allegations from the alleged victim, eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence and, where appropriate, additional medical certificates apt to provide a full and accurate record of the injuries and an objective analysis of the medical findings, in particular as regards the cause of the injuries. Any deficiency in the investigation which undermines its ability to establish the cause of injuries or the identity of the persons responsible will risk falling foul of this standard. The investigation into the alleged ill-treatment must be prompt. Lastly, there must be a sufficient element of public scrutiny of the investigation or its results; in particular, in all cases, the complainant must be afforded effective access to the investigatory procedure (see, among many other authorities, Assenov and Others v. Bulgaria, 28 October 1998, §§ 102 et seq., Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998-VIII; Mikheyev v. Russia, No. 77617/01, §§ 107 - 108, 26 January 2006; and Petropoulou-Tsakiris v. Greece, No. 44803/04, § 50, 6 December 2007).
(b) Application of the above principles to the present case
111. Turning to the circumstances of the present case, the Court considers that the applicant's statement to investigator Kh.A. on 13 Septem
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