Cop killed in suspected terror attack in Hyderabad

By IANS,

Hyderabad : Four days ahead of the third anniversary of the Mecca Masjid blast, suspected terrorists Friday struck in the old city of Hyderabad , killing one policeman.


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Police said two to three masked assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on policemen around 4 p.m. near Volga Hotel in Shahali Banda area, about a kilometer from the historic Charminar and Mecca Masjid.

“Unidentified person or persons opened two rounds of fire on policemen as they were on a lunch break after Friday prayers,” Police Commissioner A.K. Khan told reporters.

According to eye witnesses, the attackers fired at the policemen. There was panic in the area as people ran helter-skelter on hearing the gun shots. The attackers fled the scene.

A police constable died on the way to Osmania Hospital. He has been identified as U. Ramesh of the 11th battalion of Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP).

Immediately after the incident, police sounded high alert across the city and launched massive hunt for the assailants.

The incident took place even while the police were on high alert for last few days in view of intelligence warnings of possible terror attacks in the run up to the third anniversary of Mecca Masjid blast on May 18.

Police have put up barricades at several points in the city and started checking vehicles and frisking people.

The third such incident in as many years sent alarm bells ringing in the top echelons of police, who suspect involvement of an alleged terror operative who is at large.

While the unidentified gunmen had shot dead one policeman May 18 last year, this time they struck four days before the blast anniversary.

“We suspect involvement of Viqaruddin and some other suspects who are at large. We are trying to gather clues and can come to a conclusion only after a thorough probe,” said Khan.

Last year, on the second anniversary of the blast, a policeman was killed and another injured in a similar attack when assailants opened fire at policemen at Falaknuma area of the old city.

Police believed Viqaruddin, an alleged terror operative, was involved.

Two policemen were injured Dec 3, 2008, in the attempt to arrest Viqaruddin, when one of the two people accompanying him opened fire at the policemen. The three assailants managed to escape.

The bomb blast during Friday prayers in the 17th century mosque on May 18, 2007, killed nine people. Five people died in the subsequent police firing on protesters outside the mosque.

The latest firing came as a setback to the city police as it took place despite their continuing search operations for over a fortnight amid intelligence warnings of possible terror attacks and close on the heels of the arrest of a terror suspect.

Police May 3 arrested an alleged terror suspect belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Police said 34-year-old Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq was planning to cause explosions in busy areas of the city.

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