Hyderabad: Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Sunday demanded that the Telangana government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the death of Mohammed Abdul Qadeer Khan, who succumbed to death due to the grievous injuries caused by Medak Police personnel.
Further, he said all the police personnel involved in the act must be booked for murder and arrested immediately. He also demanded compensation of Rs 50 lakh to be paid to the victim’s family.
Shabbir Ali strongly condemned the Telangana Police for trying to cover up the custodial death.
“Why is the state home minister Mahmood Ali silent on this issue? Why is he not at the very least acknowledging the custodial death of Qadeer Khan? Is this the KCR government’s example of ‘friendly policing’?” he asked.
The Congress leader said that the death of Qadeer Khan due to police torture has raised many questions about the functioning of Telangana Police.
“Qadeer Khan was first picked up from the Old City of Hyderabad as a suspect in a theft case; brutally tortured for five days in a police station in Medak and then placed under illegal house arrest. He was denied medical help although he suffered multiple fractures, dislocation of the spine and renal failure. He had to escape house arrest to get himself admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad. Media has been reporting about the incident since Qadeer Khan was admitted to a hospital and the victim himself recorded a video narrating how he was tortured by the police. But neither the home minister, DGP or other police officials reacted and now after his death, they are busy trying to cover up everything,” he said.
Shabbir Ali alleged that Telangana was becoming the capital of ‘custodial deaths and torture.
He said a Dalit woman Mariyamma and her son Uday Kiran were brutally tortured by the police in Yadadadri Bhuvanagiri district and later Mariyamma succumbed to the injuries in July 2021.
Two more cases were later reported from Suryapet and Kamareddy districts.
“Instead of ensuring the safety of common people, home minister Mahmood Ali leaves no occasion to praise the Telangana police and its ‘friendly policing’,” he said adding that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) never reacted on the rising incidents of custodial deaths in different parts of Telangana.
He also condemned MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi for defending the KCR government on all issues including the custodial death of Qadeer Khan. He pointed out that Qadeer Khan was picked by the police from Yakutpura, which is part of the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
“The AIMIM leader went to Bharatpur in Rajasthan to meet the families of two youths Junaid and Nasir who were murdered in Haryana by the right-wing goons. While we strongly condemn the murder of Junaid and Nasir and demand stern action against the culprits, we expect Asaduddin Owaisi to express a similar reaction to Qadeer Khan’s custodial death who belonged to his home state. Why Asaduddin Owaisi did not visit the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad where Qadeer Khan was admitted for 23 days? Is he not trying to protect KCR government as he did in the past in similar cases?” he asked.
