The two persons killed in an exchange of fire with the police in Nalgonda district on Saturday could be activists of Student’s Islamic Movement of India, sources in the Intelligence Bureau said.
Identified as Aslam Ayub and Jakir Hussain, police sources suspect the slain assailants were among the seven SIMI activists who escaped from Khandwa prison in Madhya Pradesh after violently attacking security personnel in 2013. Since two unidentified men shot dead two policemen at Suryapet bus-stand in Nalgonda three days ago, the needle of suspicion swung towards a gang of thieves from Uttar Pradesh, who targeted bus passengers.
Since Suryapet police arrested three members of such a gang a month ago, investigators surmised the killers were the trio’s associates.
However, they couldn’t explain why thieves would carry firearms and kill policemen. The killers even shot at a car owner after trying to stop it.
The State government and Police Department, for some inexplicable reasons, didn’t go on record about the past history of the slain assassins. All that the officials could say was their names.
Police top brass confirmed that the same duo killed in exchange of fire on Monday had shot dead two of their policemen at Suryapet bus-stand. Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh police sought information from their counterparts in Telangana about the slain assailants.
The National Investigation Agency officials too suspect the two persons shot dead in Nalgonda were among the five fugitive SIMI members involved in a bank robbery in Choppadandi of Karimnagar in February 2014.
The footage of a CCTV camera installed at the bank had confirmed their involvement in the heist.
