HYDERABAD: US-based ‘cyber expert’ Syed Shuja’s claims that his colleagues were killed in May 2014, when communal riots that broke out in Kishanbagh of the city, have forced the Telangana police to refresh their memories of the case.

Shuja, who identified himself as a former employee of the city based Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) that manufactured Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), claimed that the riots between two communities were orchestrated to cover up the murder of his colleagues.Police officials confirmed that only three persons died in the riots and all of them belonged to one community and had no connection with any government agency or political outfit.

“His claims are false as only three persons died in the riots and there were no other deaths or murders around that time,” Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said.Resident of Sikh Chawni at Kishanbagh, who witnessed the violence followed by the paramilitary forces opening fire at the mobs, said all the three persons who died in the firing belonged to their area and had no connection with ECIL or any other government agency. Mohammed Sujauddin Khatib alias Taufiq, an electrician and activist of a political outfit, Mohammed Fareed, an auto driver, and Mohammed Wali alias Wajid succumbed to bullet injuries, while eight others were left wounded in the firing.

Shuja during an interaction with media through Skype on Monday claimed that he worked for ECIL from 2009 till 2013, during which time the  team was asked to check if the EVMs can be hacked. Further they found that EVMs can be hacked and informed the same to the authorities. With this information, when they approached a BJP leader in the city, his gunmen killed his colleagues, but Shuja who also received bullet injuries fled from the city, while his colleagues were killed during riots that were engineered to cover up the killings.

Shuja stated that he travelled to Delhi and after recovery moved to USA, where is currently seeking asylum.One of the residents of Sikh Chawni said that had police acted in time when the trouble broke on the first day, the situation would have not turned so worse. Though they tried to pacify both groups that situation was already out of hand, they could do nothing in the middle of the stone pelting from both sides.
“To control, security forces opened fire. If they had not taken this step, the death toll in the riots could have increased even more,” they added.