By IANS
Hyderabad : Muslim organisations Saturday demanded immediate suspension of police officers involved in 'unwarranted' and 'unprovoked' firing on protestors following the bomb blast at the historic Mecca Masjid here on May 18.
United Muslim Action Committee (UMAC), which comprises various Muslim groups, demanded that the guilty police officers be suspended pending the judicial probe into the firing.
It also demanded a timeframe for the judicial inquiry and plans to submit a panel of sitting judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. "We will submit the list of non-Muslim judges and the government may choose one of them to head the probe," said Hyderabad MP and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi after a meeting of UMAC.
The committee led by eminent religious scholar Moulana Hameeduddin Auqil Hussami decided to call on Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy with another memorandum demanding suspension of police officials involved in firing.
The government Thursday agreed on a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) only into the blast though the UMAC had demanded a CBI probe into the police firing as well. The chief minister instead announced a judicial probe into firing.
The bomb blast during Friday (May 18) prayers at Mecca Masjid had claimed 11 lives while five people died when police opened fire near the mosque to disperse a protesting mob.
The Muslim groups have said they are not satisfied with mere judicial probe and transfer of two inspectors. They want suspension of all four police officers. "If the government fails to take any action we will protest in a democratic manner," said Owaisi, whose party has a huge mass base in Muslim-majority old city.
MIM and other groups argue that police did not follow the due process and procedure adopted in such circumstances. They alleged that the police deliberately and directly fired on innocent people which amounted to murder.
They alleged that the police used self loading rifles (SLRs), which is generally used against terrorists.
MIM has also petitioned the state human rights commission to order a probe into the 'blatant violation of human rights'. The commission has sought notices from Hyderabad police commissioner and district collector.