ஹைதரபாத் கலவரம் - போலீஸ் சுட்டு 5 பேர் சாவு

மசூதியில் குண்டு வெடிப்பு நடந்த பின்னால் வந்த போலீஸை எதிர்த்து முஸ்லீம்கள் கலவரத்தில் ஈடுபட்டதில், போலீஸ் சுட்டு 5 பேர் கொலையுண்டார்கள்.

இப்போது அது சர்ச்சைக்குரிய விஷயமாக ஆகியிருக்கிறது.

போலீஸ் ஏன் இடுப்புக்கு மேல் சுட்டார்கள் என்பது கேள்விக்குறியாக ஆகியிருக்கிறது.

கலவரத்தில் ஈடுபட்டவர்கள் தங்களை லத்தி சார்ஜ் செய்திருந்தாலே ஓடியிருப்போம் என்று கூறுகிறார்கள்.ஏன் துப்பாக்கியில் அதுவும் இடுப்புக்கு மேல் சுட்டார்கள் என்று கேள்வி கேட்கிறார்கள்.

ஆந்திராவை ஆளும் காங்கிரஸ் அரசு இதற்கு பதில் கூறும் என்று எதிர்பார்ப்போம். அப்பாவி மக்களை கொல்வது கண்டிக்கத்தக்கது.

Why did cops shoot above waist?
20 May, 2007

HYDERABAD: The death of five Muslim protesters in police firing in the old city — after the bomb blast in front of Mecca Masjid on Friday in which 11 persons have died so far — is spiralling into a serious controversy.

The central question is how was it that the police fired at the demonstrating crowd, the very first round above waist-level.

According to the rulebook, policemen are to fire, as a warning, only at the feet to disperse the crowd and prevent fatalities.

On Friday, however, four victims of police firing had been shot above waist, while one suffered a bullet injury in his chest. The deaths in the police-firing have led to further anger in certain localities.

Incidentally, no officer so far has claimed responsibility for the orders to shoot to kill rather than disperse the milling crowds. A victim of police firing, Mir Yusuf Ali, told TOI that firing was resorted to when a lathicharge would have sufficed.

He also said that many like him were not protesters but had rushed to the mosque to look for family members who had come for namaz.

Hyderabad's district collector R V Chandravadan has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the firing. "I did not order police firing," Hyderabad police commissioner Balwinder Singh told TOI on Saturday. He said the order had been issued by an inspector of the quick response team (QRT) who feared things would go out of control.

QRT operates under the police control room (PCR) and is usually deployed during VVIP visits.

State DGP M A Basith told the media that firing was ordered because a restive crowd was about to set fire to a petrol pump opposite Mecca Masjid. The DGP also said police had first used water canons and later fired teargas and rubber bullets. But eye witnesses say the police panicked and fired without provocation.

However, it does appear that neither the director general nor the commissioner know what exactly happened. For, it was not only the QRT men who men fired at the mob; other police wings were involved, too.

TOI is in possession of photographs that show policemen in mufti shooting at crowds with their pistols. This was at the rear end of Mecca Masjid. Policemen in civil clothes operating in Hyderabad could only belong to the Hyderabad police's task force.

The task force — which is like a special branch — assists the police in investigating major crimes. They have no
role in maintaining law and order, although Balwinder Singh asserts that as elite forces, they can be deployed for law and order.

"The entire task force was deployed at the spot as they mobilise quickly," agreed Balwinder Singh, but said that they had not fired. Though the commissioner did not say so, TOI reporters also saw men of the central crime station around the Mecca Masjid.

Later in the afternoon men from the AP Special Police, Rapid Action Force and other wings were deployed.