Cops claim breakthrough in AP riots case

The Andhra Pradesh director general of police, Shyamsundar Prasad Yadav has said that the burning to death of a family in Vatoli village of Adilabad district was a case of murder and the police have almost solved the case. "We have got some vital clues and investigations have made considerable progress. We know who is involved in this case", he said.

Though the DGP refused to confirm that some people involved in the case were already in the police net, police sources said that at least four people have admitted their involvement in the incident, which shocked the entire state.

The four people have been identified as Audhoot, Venu, Diwakar and Bhagwant Rao. They also revealed the involvement of some other people and police were looking two of them Chandrabhan and Chandrakant. The police sources said that all these youth are in their late teens or mid twenties and are members of The Hindu Vahini, a front organization of Bajrang Dal.

"The detained persons are locals and we are also trying to find out whether some people from Maharashtra were also involved in this incident", a senior official said.

Six members of the family of Mahboob Khan were burnt in Vatoli village in the wee hours of Sunday, 11 days after the break out of communal riot in nearby Bhainsa town of Adilabad district. The victims include Mahboob Khan, his wife, his daughter and three grand-children. 

Initially the officials had suggested that it could be a case of electric short circuit but it had infuriated the local Muslim community which demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry in to the incident. Even the survivors of the family had rejected the idea of this being an accident. "It is a clear case of murder", a family member had said.

The theory of a crime was strengthened by the fact that limbs of the victims were found scattered elsewhere. His wife had some bones fractured while his daughter's mouth was gagged.

Additional director general of police Abdul Khayyum Khan, who led special investigation team to probe the Vatoli and other incidents in Bhainsa said, "We know who has done it and why. But we have to investigate further to reveal if their was a deeper conspiracy behind it."

Khan said that there was a link between the communal riots in Bhainsa and the incident in Vatoli.

In connection with Bhainsa riots, 29 cases were booked in connection with the death of three persons and looting and arson of 70 institutions including shops and houses. Denying the allegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party that the police was acting partially and only arresting its members, Khan said, "The 129 people arrested so far belong to both the communities.  We are not looking at who belongs to which community. We are catching all those people who are involved in the violence," he said.