Andhra Pradesh Home Minister T Devender Goud on Tuesday rejected the demand for a judicial inquiry into a bomb blast near a temple in the city, and the subsequent killings of two youth in alleged encounters and serial murders of 10 people allegedly by activists of a fundamentalist organisation.
Replying to a three-hour-long heated debate in the assembly, the home minister said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the bomb blast last December and the subsequent killings of two alleged terrorists by the police. He ruled out the demand by Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen for a judicial enquiry by a sitting high court judge into the blast near Sai Baba temple and the encounter deaths.
He also rejected the demand by Bharatiya Janata Party for a ban on Darsgah-e-Jehad, a fundamentalist group allegedly involved in the serial killings of 10 people belonging to rival community over the last 10 months. "The Criminal Investigation Department is probing into the activities of this organisation and we will take a decision at an appropriate time," he said.
Initiating a discussion on the issue raised under rule 304 of assembly rules, the BJP legislator Dr K Laxman condemned the growing activities of the DJS, the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India and other outfits supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.
He asked the government to impose a ban on DJS and order the arrest of DJS founder Mahbub Ali under Prevention of Terrorism Act.
MIM floor leader Asaduddin Owaisi lodged protest against the killing of two Muslim youngsters by the police in fake encounters after branding them as terrorists.
Condemning the recent serial murders, he also took serious exception to the actions of some police officers who, he alleged, were acting with communal bias against Muslims to curry favour of the Sangh Parivar.
In his statement the home minister said Ranga Reddy district police arrested five men, who were involved in 10 murders at various places on the outskirts of the city. The modus operandi of the accused was to pick up their victims from bus stops and similar places in their car by feigning as taxi. After taking them to remote places the accused used to rob the passengers, hit them with iron rods and kill them by slitting their throats.
"The way they killed innocent persons is a matter of concern for all of us. We are sharing the information with central agencies and other state governments to probe their links in other states," he said.
Goud said a special court would be set up to try the case of serial murders and assured the House that the guilty would not be spared.