Reuters AlertNet Lite - Blast-hit Indian Muslims protest police killings

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Blast-hit Indian Muslims protest police killings

20 May 2007 13:49:04 GMT
Source: Reuters

HYDERABAD, India, May 20 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Indian Muslims staged an angry protest on Sunday against the police killing of five people during demonstrations following a bomb attack on a 17th century mosque.

Eleven people died in the blast during Friday prayers inside the sprawling Mecca Masjid in the southern city of Hyderabad. Police later shot dead five people when they moved against mobs who attacked police, shops, vehicles, bank teller machines and petrol pumps.

On Sunday, Muslim youths blocked the entry to the state police chief's office for over two hours to protest against the killing. They also burnt an effigy of the officer.

"Why did the police use regular bullets when there were guidelines to use rubber bullets only to quell rioting mobs?" said Asaduddin Owaisi, an MP, who led the protests.

Despite the protest, life in Hyderabad, one of India's showcase IT hubs, was slowly limping back to normality on Sunday. Shops and tea stalls opened but they had few customers.

A busy shopping mall near the mosque which is usually flooded with people buying the famous Hyderabad pearls, perfumes and dresses, had police and journalists instead.

Riot police in blue uniforms were positioned at key locations near the mosque.

Police said they are hunting for clues on who may be behind the bombing which the state chief minister called a "terrorist" attack. Intelligence sources said a man was taken into custody in the eastern city of Kolkata, but police did not confirm this.

Police say high-voltage explosives made by combining TNT and RDX were used in the blast which was triggered by a mobile phone.

Two similar but unexploded devices were discovered later as the sim cards in the mobile phones kept with the explosives had expired. They were later defused.

In continuing investigations, police found another mobile phone and a sim card at the bottom of a water tank in the mosque, along with a remote charger lead.

Investigating agencies and analysts say members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) could be behind the blast in coordination with Pakistan-based militant groups.

The aim, they say, is to trigger communal clashes in India which, while more than 80 percent Hindu, has the world's third biggest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan.

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Last updated:Sun May 20 13:50:52 2007