By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Hyderabad: Telangana police on Tuesday morning shot dead five Muslim youths, accused in terror cases while they were being shifted from Warangal prison to Hyderabad Criminal court for a trial.
Policemen claimed to open fire when the accused tried to snatch a weapon from a policeman in the running vehicle between Aler and Jangaon, about 80 km from Hyderabad in an area bordering Warangal and Nalgonda districts.
The persons who lost their lives are Mohammed Viqaruddin, Mohammed Haneef, Amjed Ali, Riyaz Khan all from Hyderabad and Izhar Khan from Uttar Pradesh. All of them were accused of forming a militant organization Tehreek-e-Galba-e-Islami and running a hit squad targeting police officers.
The accused were arrested in 2010 after a series of attacks on police in Hyderabad. They were shifted to Warangal Central Jail in 2011 on the pretext of creating nuisance in Cherlapally Jail in Hyderabad.
The visual of the regional Telugu news channels from the encounter site shows that all the dead bodies are laying in the pool of blood in the police vehicle, all of them handcuffed, some even had their hands tied to seats.
Their case was today listed for hearing at 7th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge where their two lawyers Advocate Abdul Azeem and Advocate Khalid Saifullah were waiting for them to arrive. When the Advocates of the deceased received the news of the alleged encounter they immediately organized a press conference at their office at 3 p.m.
One of the accused in #Viqarencounter in #Nalgonda shot dead while he was handcuffed. One picture worth 1000 words. pic.twitter.com/dPFJhNRM1b
— dinesh akula (@dineshakula) April 7, 2015
Advocates of the departed termed the encounter as fake which they said, they had an apprehension of since the beginning. Advocate Abdul Azeem, addressing the press conference, said, “This has come when the trial was about to be finished and we were sure of their acquittal. This is moment of shock for us and their families.”
Advocate Azeem said that the families of the accused persons had earlier given representations to the Chief Justice, jail authorities and other top police officers fearing threat to the lives of their children.
“There was an incident earlier where jail shifting squad of police stopped the vehicle in the middle of the highway and asked them to run. When my clients refused they forced them and beat them up. We feared police was trying to orchestrate an encounter.”
“One of the accused Vikaruddin filed an affidavit in the court narrating the incident and pleaded to be shifted back to Hyderabad fearing for his life. It’s all in the court record,” he added.
“The trial of their case is going on in Hyderabad, the only reason they were shifted to Warangal prison by the police to get a chance to dump them whenever they require,” Advocate Azeem alleged.
Advocate Azeem said, in a rage, “Police knew they would be acquitted so as per their plan they killed them in cold blood, scripting a stupid story.”
Mohammed Viqaruddin, Mohammed Haneef, Amjed Ali, Riyaz Khan and Izhar Khan. All five killed in encounter.
Advocate Khalid Saifullah said there is no doubt that his clients have been killed in fake encounter. “Over a dozen police officers are present in the sifting squad, it is beyond any logic that five handcuffed men could become a threat. Visuals of the encounter site clearly shows they were handcuffed and in the police vehicle. They were killed in cold blood.”
The incident occurred close on the heels of a gunfight in Nalgonda district on Saturday in which two alleged members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and three policemen were killed.
Making connection between the two events Advocate Khalid alleged that police killed all five of them for settling scores, “They are trying to portray this as their style of retaliation, but police should understand that this kind of irresponsible acts will give a message to the public at large that police is not for justice but it stands for vengeance.”
Advocates reiterated in the press conference that peace comes with justice and this type of fake encounter will soon tarnish the peace of the society. They demanded booking of murder case against police officers responsible for the killing.
Related:
Viqaruddin was mastermind of attacks on police
Five terror accused trying to flee gunned down in Telangana