The nine BSF jawans, who opened fire because of which three persons were killed during the May 14 communal clashes in Kishanbagh, have told the Cyberabad police teams investigating the case that they “only fired in the air“and hence “did not shoot down anybody.”
The jawans further said the investigators that they fired only 30 rounds as against the 100 spent cartridges of INSAS rifles that were reportedly found at the scene of the clashes.
According to police sources, the two communities come to blow over the burning of a religious flag.
The Border Security Force (BSF) was pressed into service when the situation threatened to go out of control.
In an attempt to quell the rioters, BSF personnel supposedly opened fire into the crowd killing three civilians Mohammed Fareed, 25, an auto driver, Mohammed Shujauddin Khatib alias Taufiq, 38, an electrician and Mohammed Wali alias Wajid, 23, a marble polishing worker.
Eight others -Mohammed Saddam, Ghasiuddin, Shakeel Nawaz Khan, Mohammed Arif, Shaikh Younus, Anwar Khan and Mahmood -suffered bullet injuries.
Following the deaths, a magisterial inquiry was ordered into the incident. Even as that inquiry is in progress, the Rajendranagar police registered two separate cases under section 176 of CrPC (when any person dies while in the custody of police).
The complainants in the two cases are a sub-inspector attached and an inspector to the Rajendranagar police station. They said that in spite of warning, the crowd did not disperse from the scene of trouble in Arsh Mahal and even tried to take hold of the weapons of policemen.
Aspecial teams were formed by the Cyberabad police to investigate the two cases and recorded the statements of the nine BSF jawans of Battalion 148 who were deployed in the area.
The jawans allegedly said that they only opened fire in the air and did not target anyone. They, however, conceded that sophisticated INSAS rifles were used.
The statements of the BSF jawans fly in the face of eyewitness accounts and photographs that show them targeting the rioters directly.
The investigators are now planning to tackle the jawans with the photographs, video clips as well as the postmortem and forensic reports.