Police shot dead five undertrials inside a vehicle, which was bringing them to Hyderabad in connection with a court case, as one of them reportedly snatched a gun and opened fire at the accompanying police party.
‘Cold-blooded murder’
‘The incident has been termed by the families of the dead as cold-blooded murder. All the five facing terror charges had been lodged in the Warangal central prison. Among the dead was Viqar Ahmed, a resident of Hyderabad accused of killing three policemen, reportedly after floating his own terror outfit, Tahreek-Galba-e-Islami (TGI). While Viqar, Syed Amjad and Mohd. Zakir are from Hyderabad, the other two, Izhar Khan and Mohd. Haneef, hailed from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively.
This was the third violent incident involving police and persons facing terror charges in less than a week in Telangana.
On Thursday, two activists of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India shot dead two policemen at Suryapet bus-stand in Nalgonda district. The two activists were killed by the police in an exchange of fire in the same district two days later in which another constable lost his life.
A sub-Inspector, Siddaiah, injured in the second incident died at a local hospital on Tuesday. Incidentally, it was his first marriage anniversary and his wife delivered a baby boy in the same hospital the day he was injured.
The undertrials killed in the latest incident had been shifted to Warangal central prison a few months ago from different jails following complaints about their conduct. The shooting took place at 10.25 a.m. when the convoy crossed the Warangal district border and reached the outskirts of Tanguturu village in Aler mandal of Nalgonda district.
Viqar reportedly asked the police to halt for a toilet break. But, while getting inside the van, he allegedly snatched a policeman’s INSAS rifle and fired at the Reserve SI sitting in the front row. The RSI ducked and escaped even as two bullets were fired at him from close range.
Sensing danger, other constables immediately opened fire which resulted in the instant death of the undertrials. Top police officials led by IGP Naveen Chand rushed to the spot but chose not to share details of the incident. Three hours later, the bodies were shifted to Jangaon area hospital for post-mortem.
