NALGONDA: Even as the recent encounters with suspected SIMI activists at Suryapet and Janakipuram are still fresh in the minds of the people, another incident involving two armed youngsters created a flutter in Nalgonda district on Tuesday.
The duo, brandishing a revolver, escaped after trying to open fire on police personnel who were hot on their heels following a chain snatching complaint.
According to police, the two unidentified miscreants, riding on an Apache motorcycle (registration no. AP 13R 4379) snatched a gold chain from a 60-year-old woman, Lakshmamma, at Pangal in Nalgonda town and sped towards Nakrekal. As the woman raised an alarm, locals noted down the vehicle number and alerted the Nalgonda police who in turn passed on the information to the Nakrekal police.
As the news was flashed on channels, residents of the Officers’ Colony in Nakrekal spotted the vehicle in their locality and stopped the youngsters who gave suspicious answers in Hindi to their pointed queries. An argument ensued between the two sides and sensing that their game could be up, the miscreants fled from the spot only to run into a police check point. They tried to evade the police but in the process, fell on the road. The police pounced on one of them prompting the other to pull out a pistol and fire at constable Keshava Reddy.
Luckily, the pistol didn’t work but the unarmed constables, with the recent encounters still in mind, ran to nearby houses to take cover. The youngsters then fled towards Hyderabad. The district police later announced a high alert across national highway 65 and intensified checkings. Police officials said they were investigating if the duo are part of the fugitive SIMI activists who escaped from the Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh a few months back.
Sources said the two constables who saw the suspects from close range were called to Hyderabad for identifying them. In April, the police had gunned down two SIMI activists who escaped from the Khandwa prison.