Headlines
Viquar Ahmed had feared murder by police: Lawyer
Hyderabad, April 8
Viquar Ahmed, one of the five
undertrials gunned down by police in Telangana on Tuesday, had
expressed an apprehension that the police may kill him, his lawyer said
on Wednesday.
Viquar had filed a petition in the trial court six
months ago, expressing his apprehension that the police may kill him in a
staged gunfight while bringing him from Warangal Central Jail to
Hyderabad.
"He had complained that policemen are trying to attack
him while transporting him and others from Warangal," said Abdul Azeem,
who was representing Viquar and two others.
The defence counsel
said Viquar's father had also submitted a petition to the chief justice
of the high court and human rights commission stating that Viquar was
facing threat to his life from the police.
On April 6, Viquar had
requested the court to transfer him to a jail in Hyderabad. He had
given this request in his hand writing and the court was to pronounce
orders on it on April 7, the day when he and four others were killed.
The
lawyer said the two cases against Viquar and his friends were in the
final stage as only the statements of the investigating officers were to
be recorded. "We were expecting judgment in a couple of months," he
said.
Abdul Azeem dismissed the police claim that Viquar and four
others were shot dead as they tried to snatch weapons from the
accompanying policemen and flee.
He said all the undertrials
were handcuffed and chained to the seats in the police vehicle and hence
there was no question of their attempting to snatch weapons or escape.
Viquar
and the four others were facing charges of involvement in various cases
including killing of two policemen in Hyderabad. Police said he had
formed a group called Tehreek Galba-e-Islam and was carrying out
terrorist activities with his associates.