Indian police kill five prisoners on way to court near Hyderabad

Published April 8, 2015
Police officers inspect the bodies of five prisoners who were shot dead by police.—AP
Police officers inspect the bodies of five prisoners who were shot dead by police.—AP

HYDERABAD (India): Authorities in southern India said they killed five prisoners, including one accused of terrorism, when they tried to escape from a police van on Tuesday.

Police were transferring the five men from Warangal city to a court in Hyderabad when the alleged Islamic extremist Syed Viqaruddin asked that the vehicle stop in a deserted area for a bathroom break.

When the vehicle stopped, another suspect “tried to snatch a rifle from a policeman and tried to escape”, said Anurag Sharma, the head of Telangana state police.

Take a look: Suspected rebels kill three police in India-held Kashmir

“The police first warned them to stop and surrender, and when they did not listen, police opened fire.” One officer was injured in the incident, which came two days after a gunbattle in the same state left two terror suspects and a police constable dead.

Viqaruddin, who police say was part of the banned terrorist organization Lashkar-i-Taiba, was in custody since his July 2010 arrest for allegedly carrying out a series of attacks against policemen. He was accused of killing two policemen in Hyderabad, as well as triggering two bomb blasts in the southern high-tech city.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2015

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