By TCN News,
Bhopal: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) while vehemently condemning the gunning down of five under-trial Muslim youths in cold blood by Telengana police, has demanded an inquiry into the whole episode by a high level independent agency.
A stern action against the errant policemen who were prima facie involved should also be taken, Afsar Pasha, SDPI national general secretary, said in a statement.
Pasha charged that it was a “pre-meditated game-plan” of the police officials to eliminate the Muslim youth under-trial prisoners as it apprehended their acquittal in the absence of fool-proof evidence which could pin them down. “It was totally a fake encounter,” he alleged.
Pasha said that it is quite surprising that 17 policemen could not control five handcuffed men confined in police van while being shifted from Warangal prison to Hyderabad Criminal court for a trial. “The so-called self-defence plea of the armed police against unarmed detainees does not hold water and is a white lie. The question can be asked as to how a hand-cuffed person could have wrested a weapon from a trained policeman. It looks like a planned Gujarat model encounter.”
He said that this is a case of Human rights violation which should be taken note by National and International agencies. “There is no logic and justification of this atrocity. No one is injured while all detainees are dead on point blank range. This is a clear hidden message of terror and intimidating Muslims. The Centre and State government wants to drive a point home (with pre-emptive strategy & strikes), don’t be too confident that you are safe and equals.”
He pointed out 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. One of the accused Viquaruddin had filed an affidavit in the court and pleaded to be shifted back to Hyderabad fearing for his life. It’s all in the court record. However, no steps were taken to ensure safety of the under-trials, he added.
Pasha stated that this is a good way to save the embarrassment faced by the police and the state, “when 99 % of the so-called terrorists are proven innocent by the courts. Better, finish them. No court trial, no losing the case, no embarrassment. And when tag of terrorists is added nobody is even going to dare to challenge motives, otherwise he/she will be immediately termed a traitor,” he also added.