Date:15/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/15/stories/2004071503410500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Youth's death: tense situation continues in Nizamabad

By Our Staff Reporter

NIZAMABAD, JULY 14. Tension ran high on the streets of Nizamabad town on Wednesday as minority youth staged a dharna at Gandhi chowk, carrying the body of 27-year-old Md. Shakir Hussain, who died at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Shakir had been injured in a gang attack in Nizamabad.

A complete bandh in the minority-dominated areas of the town was observed for the second successive day on Wednesday, with protesters blocking main roads and throwing traffic out of gear for over four hours. The stir continued even after the funeral, with protestors demanding the arrest of the accused. While some staged a dharna at Gandhi chowk, others marched to the office of the Superintendent of Police. Protestors alleged that two councillors were involved in the attack and were attempting to downplay the case through political connections.

The SP, N. Madhusudan Reddy, placed the Two Town Sub-Inspector, Abdul Fateh, in Vacancy reserve, and made the Navipet SI, Md. Waheeduddin, the incharge. He held talks with the elders of the minority community to get the agitation called off.

Last month, Md. Shakir Hussain and his friends had allegedly assaulted the owner of an STD booth in Ahmedipura colony in Nizamabad, following a tiff with him. In a retaliatory attack, Shakir and members of his family had allegedly been beaten up by friends of the STD booth owner.

Shakir sustained grievous injuries in the attack and died while undergoing treatment at the NIMS in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Tempers in minority areas have been running high since Tuesday afternoon, with the tension mounting in the early hours of Wednesday when police brought back the victim's body after a post-mortem. People participated in the funeral procession, which started from Ahmedipura colony and was stopped abruptly at Gandhi chowk, with irate protestors squatting on the road and refusing to move until police action against the accused was taken.

Sub-Divisional police officers from Nizamabad, Bodhan, Kamareddy and Armoor, Circle Inspectors and over a dozen SIs were deployed. The police's appeal to the demonstrators to call off their agitation and conduct the last rites of the victim went in vain.

The protesters were finally persuaded to relent by elders of the community. The body was later buried in a graveyard behind the One Town police station.