Policeman killed by Muslims as 'Islamic terror' strikes Hyderabad

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Police officers with the body of Constable Ramesh Kumar

Martyred policeman U.Ramesh Kumar

May 14, 2010

In a unprovoked terror attack by two Jihadi gunmen in the old city of Hyderabad on Friday, a police constable, U.Ramesh Kumar was shot dead as he stood next to a police picket.

The incident took place this evening near Volga Hotel in Shahali Banda area, about a kilometer from the Charminar and Mecca Masjid.

26-year-old U.Ramesh Kumar was born in Chittoor district and belonged to the 11th battalion of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police.

Police Commissioner A K Khan said Ramesh was hit by fired two rounds of fire from close range and was hit in the chest and the back.

The constable Ramesh was rushed to Osmania hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Two other policemen were being treated for their injuries.

Friday's incident, in which two scooter-borne Muslim terrorists opened fire at a police picket in Shah Ali Banda locality, was a repeat of the attack of May 18 last year. One police constable was killed and another was injured when two motorcycle-borne Islamic terrorists had opened fire at the policemen at Falaknuma.

Khan told mediapersons at the scene of today's incident that the attack took place at around 4 pm when police men had heaved a sigh of relief as the Friday prayers had passed off peacefully.

"Some of the policemen on the picket duty had gone for lunch when unidentified persons had opened fire," he said.

Immediately a red alert was sounded in Hyderabad and neighbouring Cyberabad and police started looking for the suspected persons. Vehicles were being searched extensively.

When asked whether a wanted terrorist Viqaruddin, suspected in last year's attack could be involved in today's incident, Khan said, "It is difficult to say that he has done it. But he is among the suspects. There could be other people who were missing", he said.

The police had been hunting for Viqaruddin for more than a year, as he was wanted in two other attacks on policemen.

In an earlier attack, Viqaruddin had allegedly opened fire on a police picket at Falaknuma and killed a constable named Balaswamy. On December 3, 2008, Viqaruddin had allegedly opened fire on two policemen at Santoshnagar and injured them

He pointed out that after the intelligence warning of a possible terrorist attack in Hyderabad, police was maintaining high vigil and carrying out massive search operations.

During the search operation, the police had arrested a suspected operative of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba Ziaul Haq. Police commissioner said Haq was trained in Pakistan and after lying low for many years, he was now planning to carry out attacks in the city.

Stringent police bandobast near the shootout site in Old Hyderabad