The inquiry commission headed by AP high court judge V. Bhaskara Rao (Retd) submitted its report apparently justifying the police firing after the Mecca Masjid blast on May 18, 2007.
Though the commission constituted in June 2007 was asked to submit the report within three months, it took three years to complete its work. Justice Bhaskara Rao submitted the report to chief minister K. Rosaiah on Saturday, but the state government has not disclosed its contents.
Sources said the commission was “convinced” by the arguments of the police department that the situation after the blast forced them to resort to firing to rein in an unruly mob that threatened to unleash violence.
The report is expected to create uproar since the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and some Muslim organisations had accused the police of resorting to indiscriminate firing.
Many who appeared before the commission also said the firing was unprovoked. Interestingly, the special branch of the Hyderabad city police and state intelligence, in their preliminary reports to the government, admitted that the police firing on the protesters was “indiscriminate and unwarranted”.
The preliminary reports admitted that the police had shot not just at protesters but also at panic-stricken worshippers running away from the blast site.
Post-mortem reports too indicated that the police firing was indiscriminate. The bullets were fired from self-loading rifles normally used in encounters with Maoists or terrorists. As many as 90 rounds were fired by the policemen.