Hyderabad police top brass has decided to initiate departmental action against an officer who failed to identify one of the key accused in the August 2007 twin blast case.
The police sub-inspector in question, Chandra Shekar, was working with Malakpet traffic police station when the case was reported. While the terror operative succeeded in carrying out near-simultaneous blasts at a laserium in Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat in Koti, they also planted another improvised explosive device (IED) beneath a foot-over-bridge at the bustling Dilsuknagar main road which didn’t go off.
Hunt under way
Currently, the Hyderabad police are trying to ‘find out’ which part of the State Chandra Shekar is posted at. The officer had failed to recognise Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chowdhari during a test identification parade at Cherlapally Central Prisons on February 7, 2009, investigators said. Apart from Chowdhari, five people with similar complexion, height and personality had been lined up as part of the identification parade.
However, Chowdhari, who planted the IED in Dilsuknagar was identified, by the then Malakpet traffic inspector M. Prabhakar and two other police constables, who were busy clearing the footpath encroachment on that fateful evening.
The officers saw Chowdhari having an argument with a two-wheeler owner on whose bike the black colour bag containing the explosive was placed. The unexploded bomb was recovered and defused by police. “Being an officer due for promotion as inspector, Chandra Shekar failed to recognise the accused during a test identification parade,” a senior officer said.
“Once we get know about his current posting, he will be summoned and an explanation will be sought on how he failed recognise the accused. Depending on the explanation, action will be taken against him,” the officer said.
Chowdhari, who was convicted in twin bomb blast case in September last year, reportedly told the investigators that he inserted the pencil cells in the wrong direction, and as a result, the explosive did not go off.
Forty-four persons were killed and 68 injured in the blasts at the laserium in Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat, Koti.
Chowdhari and his associate Anik Shafique Sayeed, who planted the IED at Lumbini Park, were pronounced guilty in the 11-year-old case by a special court, while two other accused, Farooq Sharfuddin Tarkash and Mohammed Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik, were acquitted for want of evidence. All the four are natives of Maharashtra.
3 accused in Pak
Three other accused — Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Amir Reza Khan — are absconding and believed to be in Pakistan. Riyaz had placed the explosive at Gokul Chat Bhandar.
The court convicted Sayeed and Chowdhari under Sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 307 (attempt to murder) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and other sections of the Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in three different cases.