Hyderabad, April 8 (IANS): The bodies of four of the five undertrials gunned down by police in Telangana's Nalgonda district were handed over to their families on Wednesday.
Police said the bodies were handed over after autopsy at the government-run MGM Hospital in Warangal town, 150 km from here.
The bodies of Viquar Ahmed (33), Syed Amajd Ali (27) and Mohammed Zakir (35) were given to their relatives who reached Warangal from Hyderabad. The body of Mohammed Haneef (37), a resident of Ahmedabad, was also claimed by his family.
The police were waiting for the relatives of Izhar Khan (33), who was from Lucknow. His body has been preserved at a hospital.
Viquar Ahmed's father Mohammed Ahmed had initially refused to take his body till the government ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) but later relented.
Viquar's last rites will be performed later in the day. Police have tightened security at Malakpet, where his house is located and surrounding areas here to prevent any untoward incident.
A team of forensic experts conducted autopsy in the morning. This was videographed as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court for such incidents.
Though the undertrials were killed in the limits of the Alair police station in Nalgonda district, the bodies were brought to Warangal as they were undertrial prisoners of Warangal Central Jail.
Viquar Ahmed alias Viquaruddin and four others were shot dead by police, which alleged that the accused tried to snatch weapons from policemen and flee while they were being brought to Hyderabad from Warangal.
According to a police statement, the five undertrial prisoners were being brought in Eicher mini bus.
On the outskirts of Tangutur village, Viquar demanded to stop the vehicle for nature's call. He got off the bus along with the escort staff and boarded the bus after relieving himself.
"After entering the vehicle, he snatched the Insas weapon of the escort police constable and opened fire. The remaining four accused also tried to snatch weapons ... shouting slogans. It is learnt the escort party fired in self defence resulting in the death of Viquar and other four accused," said the statement.
However, the families of the accused have termed the encounter as "fake" and "stage-managed". They want the policemen involved in the incident to be booked for murder.
Police say the accused had formed a radical group called Tahreek Galba-e-Islam (TGI) to carry out terror activities. They were involved in the killing of two policemen in Hyderabad and one in Gujarat between 2007 and 2010.
Police said they had taken up investigation in Tuesday's incident and ordered a magisterial inquiry. It claimed to be following the guidelines of National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court.