Hyderabad, Oct 16 (IANS) A fact-finding committee of the Andhra Pradesh Minorities Commission has revealed that the Hyderabad police kept some Muslim youths in illegal custody and tortured them after the recent bomb blasts in the city, an official said Tuesday.
The commission’s interim report to the government recently said some of the youths were given electric shocks and their chests were pierced with needles.
Minorities Commission chairman Yousuf Qureshi said a final report was being prepared and would name the police officials responsible for keeping 20 Muslims in illegal custody and torturing them.
He said the interim report was submitted to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and hoped the government would take action against the police officers involved.
The two-member committee led by advocate L. Ravichander met some youths in Cherlapally jail who alleged that they were illegally detained for several days and were brutally tortured.
“The youth were brutally beaten on the legs with leather belts, their chests were pierced with needles,” the 14-page report said.
The committee could not meet seven of those allegedly arrested and tortured, but met their family members, who said the police had picked them up and kept them in illegal custody without any evidence against them.
The commission formed the committee after complaints from the youths’ relatives that they were detained by the police but not been produced in court for several days.
The report warned that such treatment of Muslim youths could push them to the wrong path. The committee made several recommendations and urged the government to take action against the guilty officials.
The near-simultaneous blasts at a park and a popular eatery here Aug 25 killed 44 people, while a blast during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid May 18 claimed nine lives.
The attitude of police in arresting Muslim youths without any evidence and raids on madrasas was earlier criticised by Muslim leaders and a section of the Urdu media.