Five alleged terror operatives, including founder of local militant group Tehreek-Ghalba-e-Islam Viqaruddin Ahmed alias Viqar, were shot dead by police on Tuesday while they were trying to escape from a police van in Telangana's Warangal district.
The incident occurred at around 10.30 am when Viqaruddin and his associates snatched weapons and tried to attack the policemen escorting them to a court in Hyderabad from Warangal Central Prison, Inspector General of Police, Warangal, V Naveen Chand said.
“All the five were involved in extremist activities and series of criminal cases. They were being taken to be produced in a court in Hyderabad. They requested the police to stop the van on the pretext of answering nature's call,” said the IG, who visited the incident site.
“Viqaruddin took the cops by surprise by snatching a weapon from one of the policemen. His associates too joined him and overpowered the security personnel. In an unavoidable situation, police had to open fire at them,” he said.
As many as 17 police personnel were escorting the terror operatives, who were in judicial custody, to Hyderabad court.
“One reserve sub-inspector was injured in the melee,” he said.
Apart from Viqar, those killed were identified as Mohammed Haneef, Syed Amjad Ali, Izhar Khan and Mohammed Zakir, DIG (Warangal Range) B Mallareddy said.
However, Viqaruddin's father Mohammed Ahmed cried foul over the entire incident.
Ahmed said that he came to know about the incident through his daughter.
“My daughter called me and informed about the incident. There is no chance for them to escape from the police. This is a plot by the police to eliminate him. We want justice. We demand from the government that whoever is involved in his murder (encounter) should be punished. Let the courts decide if he is guilty. Whatever court decides, even if it is death (penalty), we will accept. But not (this kind of act) by the police,” Ahmed told reporters in Hyderabad.
He said he met his son in Warangal prison about ten day back and everything seemed to be normal then.
Viqar, in his mid 30s, was elusive since December 2008 after attacking policemen in Warangal in which two security personnel were killed and as many injured. He was arrested along with five of his associates from different parts of Hyderabad city on July 14, 2010.
According to police, Viqar, who was also responsible for killing a police constable in Ahmedabad in 2007, had taken shelter in that city for some time.
He used to come to Hyderabad prior to the anniversary of Mecca Masjid blast and attack security personnel to avenge the police firing.
A cell phone-controlled pipe bomb went off at the historic Mecca Masjid during the Friday prayers on May 18, 2007, killing nine people, while five protesters died in police firing after the blast.
According to police, since December 2008, Viqar and his associates had targeted policemen on duty on two consecutive anniversaries of the Mecca Masjid blast by allegedly killing two cops and injuring two others in the Old City area in Hyderabad.
Police had earlier claimed that Viqar opened fire on the sleuths of counter-intelligence cell at IS Sadan on December 3, 2008, injuring a head constable.
He was also allegedly involved in the shootout at Falaknuma in which a home guard died and a police constable was injured on May 18, 2009, the second anniversary of Mecca Masjid blast. He was among three assailants who shot dead police constable U Ramesh at Shah-Ali Banda area in the Old City, on May 14, 2010, they had earlier said.
Viqar and his aides held the Sangh Parivar leaders responsible for the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast and therefore, avenged for killings of Muslims, who died in police firing after the blast in Mecca Masjid.
“Viqar treated the Sangh Parivar as a prime enemy. Besides, he wanted to kill more policemen as part of his further plans,” a senior police officer had earlier said.
“I decided to take revenge against police personnel and to eliminate Sangh Parivar because I felt Sangh Parivar was responsible for the blast in Mecca Masjid,” Viqar had reportedly told investigators.
According to police, Viqar had procured a country made gun and 20 live rounds from notorious inter-state weapons dealer Vinod Kumar Sahu, a native of Jhansi of Uttar Pradesh, which was used in committing robbery of Rs 1.60 lakh at Santoshnagar e-Seva centre in 2003.
Viqar was a resident of Old Malakpet area in Hyderabad and had joined Darsgah-e-Jihad-o-Shahadat, a suspected front of SIMI.
Image: File mugshots of all the terror suspects shot dead in the Warangal district in Telangana. Photograph: Snaps India
