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.

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“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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