Hyderabad, May 24: The Andhra Pradesh government today accepted the report of Justice V Bhaskar Rao Committee that probed into the police firing and related incidents in the aftermath of the bomb blast at Mecca masjid here in 2007.
The state cabinet which met here today accepted the panel’s findings that exonerated Hyderabad City Police saying the firing, in the aftermath of the bomb blast, was done to prevent violence from spreading in communally sensitive Old City area.
According to State Information Minister D K Aruna, the government also accepted the recommendations, like installing CCTV cameras and metal detectors at religious places, made by the committee, for enhancing security measures not only at Mecca masjid but also other religious shrines in the city.
Hyderabad Police came under sharp criticism over the firing incident on May 18, 2007 that resulted in the death of five protesters soon after a cell phone-controlled pipe bomb went off at the historic mosque during Friday prayers, killing nine people.
A one-man panel of Justice (retd) V Bhaskar Rao was set up to probe into the circumstances prior to police firing on a mob that had gathered at Shah Ali Banda to protest against the blast in Mecca masjid. The committee had submitted its report to the Andhra Pradesh Government last October.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is now probing the blast case, recently filed a charge sheet against Swami Aseemanand and also named RSS leader Indresh Kumar in connection with the incident.
The CBI, which registered a case in June 2007, has so far named six persons, all allegedly having links with a right-wing Hindu group and also filed charge sheets against two accused, Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, last year.
–Agencies