An associate of a former Simi activist shot and injured two policemen in the communally-sensitive old city area of Hyderabad on Wednesday.
HYDERABAD: An associate of a former Simi activist shot and injured two policemen in the communally-sensitive old city area of Hyderabad on Wednesday.
An accomplice of former Simi activist Vicaruddin fired three rounds from a country-made revolver when the policemen went to arrest him around 1 pm, police commissioner B Prasada Rao told reporters.
“They fired three rounds, injuring head constable Guru Rama Raju and escaped after throwing their weapon,” he said. Another head constable sustained injuries in the scuffle. Both the policemen were shifted to a hospital.
Vicaruddin was missing after the Mecca Masjid blast in May last year and is understood to have returned to the city a few days ago. Acting on a tip-off, a three-member police team went near a telephone booth at Santosh Nagar to arrest Vicaruddin. On seeing the police, one of Vicaruddin’s associates opened fire, injuring head constables Rama Raju and Jaffar.
Both were rushed to a nearby hospital where the condition of Raju is said to be serious.
Vicaruddin, who fled the scene after the incident, was also a member of the Darsgah Jihad-e-Shahadat (DJS), a local fringe group with suspected terror links and known to train Muslim youth in self-defence.
Police sounded a high alert after the incident and stepped up patrolling and checking of vehicles. Special teams were formed to nab Vicaruddin, home minister K Jana Reddy said.
The police commissioner clarified there was no connection with last week’s terror attacks in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, tension gripped Santoshnagar area after the incident and shop owners
downed their shutters. Expressing anger over the shootout, local residents raised anti-
Pakistan slogans.
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