A life-sized doll, discovered during the search of an apartment in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, is seen in this still image taken from undated police footage released to Reuters Nov 8, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

MOSCOW - Russia's Interior Ministry says police have arrested a man who kept 29 mummified bodies at his apartment and dressed them up like dolls.

Ministry spokesman Valery Gribakin said Monday that the suspect from the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod dug up the bodies at several cemeteries in the region. The man, whose identity was withheld, dressed them in clothes dug up from the graves.

Gribakin said that the suspect is a historian who has authored several books. He said the arrest followed a police probe into the desecration of graves in the region, which was initially blamed on extremist groups. Nizhny Novgorod is located about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Moscow.

Russian media reports quoted police as saying that the man only had selected the remains of young women for his grisly collection.