An uneasy calm prevailed in Rajindernagar Police Station under Cyberabad on Thursday as authorities extended the curfew clamped following communal violence and firing in Kishan Bagh area that claimed three lives and injured more than a dozen people on Wednesday.
The violence and firing by the Border Security Force personnel, killing three, has left Hyderabad shocked to the core and raised serious questions about the handling of the situation by the authorities when the city was already tense on the eve of the counting of votes.
Kishan Bagh, Arsh Mahal and Sikh Chawni areas wore a deserted look with the Rapid Action Force personnel and the local police patrolling the streets and keeping the people indoors. Bricks, stones, burnt and ransacked houses and vehicles were a grim reminder of the frenzied violence, which gripped the area on Wednesday morning.
Governor ESl Narasimhan reviewed the situation with Director General of Police B Prasad Rao and appealed for calm. He urged the people not to believe in rumours. AN Roy, the advisor to the Governor on internal security said that stringent action will be taken against the culprits responsible for the violence.
Compensation will be paid to the kith and kin of the victims of violence in accordance with the rules, he said. Following allegations that a Sikh Jawan of the BSF opened indiscriminate fire, the Governor's advisor ordered immediate removal of the BSF personnel. He also ordered a thorough probe of the matter.
The violence was reminiscent of a similar incident at the same place in 2003. The burning of religious flag at the same place had triggered violence between Sikhs and Muslims killing one person.
The latest trouble broke out when religious flag of a community was found burnt. As the news spread, a sword-wielding mob of masked men went on rampage in the adjoining area of another community, attacking and burning houses and shops and damaging the vehicles. The mob targeted passersby with the sharp edged weapons leaving almost a dozen people injured. As members of the other community started pelting stones, the situation threatened to go out of control. House of a Home Guard was also among the properties burnt as the fear stricken residents fled to save their lives.
After lathicharge and use of tear gas shells failed to curb the violence, the BSF was rushed to the scene and they opened fire killing three people. More than a dozen injured were under-going treatment in different hospitals.
In view of the outcry against the indiscriminate use of fire, the BSF personnel have been ordered to move out of the area and they have been replaced by the RAF.
Hyderabad MP and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded a judicial inquiry by a serving judge into the incident. He wanted to know who ordered the BSF to open fire. He also alleged that when the trouble broke out and miscreants were attacking the houses and the passersby, the local police remained a silent spectator. The situation turned worse after the BSF rushed to the scene.
Cyberabad Police Commission CV Anand visited the area and admitted that the manner in which the firing was opened was wrong. “BSF personnel opened fire without the permission of local police officials,” he told the reporters. BSF was part of the para-military forces deployed for election duty till the counting of votes.
However, some local people held deputy Commissioner of police Y Gangadhar responsible for the firing. The firing was so abrupt that a police inspector standing with the crowd had a narrow escape.
Gangadhar, on the other hand, defended the firing saying it was opened in the air. “We had to order firing in the air as all other efforts to bring the situation under control failed,” he said. But he could not explain how firing in the air killed three and injured eight people. He said that 15 policemen were injured in the stone pelting.
Anand said that 40 people were taken into custody and were being questioned. He said that the police could not take effective action initially because the policemen who had rushed to the riots' site were not carrying any weapons.
The violence has left a trail of tragedies behind. Those killed in firing include Fareed, a driver, who had married three months ago and his wife was expecting.
The other victims include an electrician Shujauddin alias Khateeb and Wajid Ali, a construction labor. The locality where the violence broke out is a poor area where daily wage earners live. For Khateeb's family it was a double tragedy. His brother in law Mohammed Afzal was killed in 2003 violence in the same area. “Now with the death of Shujauddin, the family of 15 people has lost its only bread earner. He was also supporting the family of his sister following the death of his brother in law in 2003 violence,” said a shocked neighbor.