Three hurt in stone-throwing, buses damaged

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, MARCH 9. Three persons, including a press photographer, were injured when a group of youngsters hurled stones on the police from inside the Mecca Masjid soon after the noon prayers on Friday. The stone-pelting incident, stated to be in protest against an unconfirmed report about the holy Koran being burnt in Delhi, had escalated tension in the communally sensitive old city areas.

The windowpanes of six city buses were damaged when the fleeing crowds stoned them near Charminar bus station. A temple behind Sardar Mahal building was also attacked, but there was not much damage to the temple. The unruly incidents had forced the police to step up mobile and foot patrolling in view of Holi celebrations in the old city. ``The situation is under control,'' the Commissioner of Police, Mr. P. Ramulu, later told TheHindu.

One of the injured, Mr. C. Kesavulu, a senior photographer of a vernacular daily, was later shifted to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) for treatment of bleeding injuries. His condition was stated to be progressing. The police teams which chased away the mobs later arrested three persons.

Trouble began when a group of youths, protesting against the alleged burning of holy Koran in New Delhi, started throwing stones on buses, passers-by and police persons near Mecca Masjid. The group then marched to the Charminar bus depot and stoned the three buses parked there and broke their windowpanes. Before melting down into the lanes and by- lanes, the miscreants pelted stones on a place of worship near Sardar Mahal and also at the police personnel at Moghalpura. Even as the police were chasing down the motley crowd, Mr. Kesavulu was cornered by the hoodlums and attacked.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ramulu, said three persons, including Mr. Baquer Hussain Saaz, editor of an Urdu newspaper, Saaz-e- Deccan, were arrested for inciting the crowds. Another person, Azhar, a resident of Gaddiannaram, was picked up at Gowliguda later. ``These persons would be sent for judicial remand,'' Mr. Ramulu said.

Tension was palpable in the old city ever since rumours started spreading about the burning of the holy Koran in Delhi. With Holi being celebrated on Friday, the Commissioner had even issued a statement on Thursday, urging people not to believe rumours about burning of the holy Koran. ``A website had put out a picture purportedly showing the burning of the holy book and the same was downloaded and published in some Urdu newspapers today,'' he said.

Meanwhile, policemen had been ordered to step up patrolling during night following apprehensions that mischievous elements might create trouble. A `stand-to' had been declared in the entire South Zone for policemen and officers. Senior officers were monitoring the situation.

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Section  : Southern States
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