Could the cops have handled the violence better?

Three people were killed on Wednesday in a police firing following violence which was sparked by the alleged burning of a religious flag by miscreants at Kishanbagh in the Old City. The police clamped an indefinite curfew under the Rajendranagar Police Station limits after the clashes, which left 23 people, including ten police personnel, injured in heavy stone pelting.

The violence has its roots to an incident a few days back wherein a disturbance was created when cow meat and bones were scattered on the hologram of a Sikh shrine. The local community leaders sorted the issue but Wednesday’s incident blew out of proportion when, according to Rajguru Singh, a local Sikh leader, some youth burnt their religious flag. This resulted in a scuffle with certain youth in the area, who had allegedly burnt the flag.

“After some time, hundreds of members gathered and pelted stones at one another. The police personnel who tried to stop them sustained injuries,” a senior police official said.

“As lathi-charge proved ineffective, police warned the clashing groups and opened fire. Curfew has been imposed indefinitely and section 144 CrPC clamped in Rajendranagar police station area under Cyberabad Commissionerate here following the incident,” the official added.

The curfew was implemented by both the city’s police commissionerates as Rajendranagar falls under CV Anand, Cyberabad Commissioner’s limits and Kishanbagh falls under Anurag Sharma, Hyderabad Commissioner’s limits.

An MLA from MIM, who was unhappy with the way police handled the situation, questioned, “Where was the need for the police to open fire? They could have used tear-gas or fired in the air.”

The father of one of the victims, Nawaz Khan, who is undergoing treatment at the Care Hospital, said, “My son is innocent. He received a bullet on his thigh which was removed by the doctors. Looks like the police station did not have tear-gas and rubber bullets and that’s why they fired to kill.” City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma, said, “There was an incident of rioting between two groups and right now the situation is totally under control. We are ensuring that it does not have any further repercussions.”

Mohd Mahmood received a bullet injury on the thigh. His uncle Shazir Khan said, “By the grace of Allah my nephew is out of danger. He is the only earning member of the family and has four children. With all these responsibilities, do you think he would have gone for riots? He was at a distance and the police fired at him aimlessly.”

Senior police officers said that they maintained a lot of constraint, “We do work with greater sensitivity and discretion among minority communities and that’s why all officers are trained.”

MLC Sayed Jaffrey, along with former deputy mayor Jaffar Hussain Miraj, gave a representation to AN Roy, advisor to the Governor, demanding a judicial probe into the incident. They requested the AP Human Rights Commission to call for a report from the DGP into the incident and register an FIR against erring police officers.