Investigation into the recent arson and other violence cases in old city has reached an impasse with some of the accused fleeing the State capital to evade arrests.
While nearly 30 criminal cases pertaining to the torching of vehicles and attacks on properties were registered after mobs went berserk near Charminar on November 16, so far police arrested around 30 persons. Barring a few youngsters caught on the spot allegedly while they were indulging in violence, investigators could not arrest others.
Video footage
“Except the confession and leads given by those caught on that day, we have to solely rely on the video footage of the incidents,” a police officer said. Collected from different sources, including TV news channels and private cameramen engaged by police officials, the footage is the only reliable piece of evidence.
However, the investigators are finding it difficult to trace the accused as some of them had fled the State capital. “We came to know that some are in Mumbai, while others are hiding in different parts of Karnataka,” an investigator said after analysing mobile phone call data records.
The strange situation encountered by the police is that many accused in these cases are minors. Police tried to find out if there were any persons behind the violence but could gather only a few clues from these minors. They were let off after being counselled in the presence of their parents.
Tough case
The sensational incident of some miscreants burning six cars at different places in Charminar police station area late on the night of November 16 too became a tough nut to crack despite availability of video footage. The image of a person torching two cars parked on roadside at Ghansi Bazar was captured by the surveillance cameras installed by their owner.
Police were confident of cracking the mystery behind it based on the video footage. But they could make nothing out of the visuals despite watching it repeatedly and even sending it to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
The investigators could not ascertain the make of the bike on which a person was seen stopping by the two cars before burning them. Even the bike’s number could not be identified based on the visuals.
Kulsumpura flag case: minor arrested
The police on Wednesday arrested a minor in connection with removal of flags from the premises of a temple at Sabjimandi in Kulsumpura that triggered communal violence a month ago.
A few others, who abetted the minor, would also be arrested soon, the police said. As news spread about the flags, members of a community started assembling there.
This sparked communal tension with mobs attacking one another and setting ablaze five shops in Kulsumpura and surrounding areas.
