Political recriminations rock Telangana over slain gangster

Hyderabad: With the death of Naxal-turned-gangster Nayeemuddin’s death at the hands of police and the shocking details of his criminal activities and his evil empire emerging each day, a new raging political controversy has erupted in the state.

As speculation is rife that Nayeem’s diary revealed the details of patronage he enjoyed from quite a few politicians and top police officials, leaders of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti and opposition Telugu Desam have started pointing fingers at each other.

As the Special Investigation Team headed by Inspector General Y. Nagi Reddy was continuing its raids and search operations and has arrested five members of Nayeem’s gang from different places including Goa, former Telugu Desam minister Uma Madhava Reddy on Thursday demanded a judicial inquiry into the entire affair.

Apart from being herself a minister in Chandrababu Naidu government in undivided Andhra Pradesh, Uma was also the wife of A. Madhava Reddy, a senior minister in Naidu’s cabinet but died in a landmine blast in March 2000 at Ghatkesar in Nalgonda district. Nayeem too belonged to the same district and her home constituency Bhongir.

Reacting strongly to the speculation that a former minister had extended support to Nayeem and even provided shelter in his home, Uma Madhava Reddy told a press conference on Thursday that a judicial inquiry should be ordered to bring out the truth. On the allegations that hundreds of calls were made from her phone to Nayeem, she said, “We have used only one phone from the time of my husband. The police should make the call data public so that people know the truth.”

She alleged that the TRS government of Telangana has adopted a vindictive attitude towards the TDP leaders.

“Some TRS leaders are trying to target my family to save their skin as they had close links with Nayeem,” she said.

Uma recalled the circumstances in which her husband was assassinated by the Naxalites. “In these circumstances, it is unthinkable that my family can have links with the politics of murder,” she said refuting the allegations that she was trying to get a sitting MLA killed to contest from the same constituency.

Uma’s son Sandeep Reddy said many Congress leaders who had links with Nayeem had now joined the TRS and they were indulging in false propaganda.

He said the land grabbing and settlements through gangsters had started only after the Congress came to power in the state in 2004. “Before that, Chandrababu Naidu’s tenure was free from such crimes and activities,” he said.

Meanwhile, a former MLA of TRS, Ramalinga Reddy, alleged that Nayeem was encouraged and patronised by Chandrababu Naidu government. “In 2004, Nayeem had threatened me against contesting from Siddipet and I had lodged a complaint with the police,” he said.

The TRS government does not need any help from likes of Nayeem, he said denying that he was killed by the police because he threatened some TRS leaders.

While police have officially said that he died in an exchange of fire, Nayeem’s mother has alleged that he was taken into custody two days before the “encounter” and was killed in cold blood.

Human rights organisations and the Communist Party of India have demanded a judicial inquiry into the encounter.

Nayeem’s mother, Tahera Begum, said the police had used his son against Naxalites as a pawn and when he had served his purpose, they made him a scapegoat.

Tahera Begum said police had taken her, Nayeem, his wife and two other relatives into custody two days before the incident. She alleged that her son was in police custody and was killed in a fake encounter. “When we were in police custody, they did not inform us about his death and brought us to Bhongir along with the body,” she said.

“The police did not allow his widow and children to have a last glimpse of his face and forced the family to bury him,” she said.

However, Mahabubnagar police said they arrested Nayeem’s wife Haseena Begum from Millennium Township of Shadnagar after the encounter.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Forum demanded investigation into the “encounter” by an agency independent of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh police.

In a press release, the forum demanded that all policemen involved in the killing of Nayeem should be booked under the relevant sections of the IPC including murder.

“While we hold absolutely no brief for Nayeemuddin, we wish to make the point that whether his death is the result of a genuine exchange of fire or an extrajudicial killing by the police has to be determined in a court of law,” the press release said.

Senior CPI leader K. Narayana also demanded a judicial probe into the incident as well as the criminal activities of Nayeemuddin.

Talking to the media, he said the probe should be headed by a sitting High Court judge.

He demanded that the inquiry should answer questions like from where he got millions of rupees and several kilograms of gold and how many members were there in his gang.

He alleged that it was the patronage of the police and the government which made Nayeem so powerful. He alleged that political parties had used Nayeem for their ends.

Narayana alleged that there were many more such criminal gangs active in and around Hyderabad and they were also being supported by various political parties and elected representatives.