 The lynching of two policemen by an angry Muslim mob in Bhiwandi on Wednesday night rocked the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly with Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil assuring the house that those who killed the two policemen would be hunted down within two daysÂ’ time and would face the consequences of their crime.
| Which in a just world would include a good neck-stretching... |
Roaring with anger, Patil told the legislators that the killers would not be spared. “The attack is not on the individuals but on the government. Let it be known that the policemen are not on the streets to get killed and the instigators of the heinous crime should also remember that we have weapons to deal with them,” Patil said. “We have the clues to the killers and we promise that we would teach them a lesson which they won’t forget for the rest of their lives,” Patil thundered with anger. The reference to the killers indirectly was directed toward Muslims, who are suspected of committing the crime.
| But, of course, just because they were rioting and burning stuff and waving sticks and ropes doesn't mean they dunnit. Coulda been anybody, really... |
What surprised many was that while Patil did plain speaking in the legislature, he was silent on the killing of the two Muslim youths Ramzan Azam Qureshi (20 years) and Malik Abdul Khaliq (50 years) who the Muslim leaders alleged were shot point blank without provocation by the police on the orders of Deputy Commissioner of Police R.D. Shinde.
| Now it comes out. Now we know who the real victims were. |
Patil said that the two policemen in plainclothes were attacked when their motorcycle skidded near Milan Hotel at 9.30 p.m. last Wednesday. A group of people standing there apparently assaulted them with stones and knives. They were badly beaten and then stabbed until they died. Their bodies were then tossed into a government bus which was set on fire. The fact that the murderers of the policemen targeted no other motorbike, indicates that they knew them, Patil added.
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