Hyderabad, April 02: Are the recent communal clashes in the State capital a result of turf war between two political parties? Preliminary investigation appears to suggest so.
Sources close to the investigation told that an MLA was present on the spot when a bank employee was stabbed to death in Falaknuma on Monday.
The legislator reportedly visited several areas after clashes had erupted on Saturday night, inciting people belonging to a particular community “not to sit at home wearing bangles.” “He told a group of youngsters not to sit at home wearing bangles. Minutes later, the bank employee was stabbed. Even as he fell down, the MLA left the place in a hurry,” the sources said.
Police Commissioner AK Khan, who has been informed of the MLA’s activities, is expected to instruct his men to probe the matter. But with the curfew continuing in the Old City, investigators have not been able to dig deep.
“We are trying to gather more information,” was all that a police officer would say to queries over the MLA’s involvement.
On the other hand, police officials are also trying to track down a corporator who had allegedly mobilised crowds that went berserk in the city.
They believe that soon after violence broke out in Moosabowli, he brainwashed a group of youngmen to retaliate. Some from the group, who were rounded up, reportedly told the police that the corporator wanted them to strike back. They were not paid for the job, the sources said.
Police officials, probing the riots, said the two political parties had been looking for an opportunity to re-establish/ reassert their control over the Old City. To substantiate their theory, they cited the large-scale celebration of some festivals in the recent past. Intelligence agencies, which were supposed to read into them, had failed, they claimed.
“Though the two political parties may have played a role initially, the violence that followed was carried out by emotionally charged up groups. If the investigation is allowed to be done in a fair manner, facts may come out soon,” a police officer said.
Sources said over a 100 youngmen had been questioned so far. “We are going through video footage. It will take some time before we can zero in on the trouble-mongers,” they said.
-Agencies