Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

Pall of gloom over police quarters

Staff Reporter

GUNTUR: There was a stunned silence in the neighbourhood for a moment and the usually noisy colony at the police quarters in Taluka in the city was suddenly filled with wailing. Residents realised that one of their neighbours was no more, having fallen victim to Maoist bullets on Tuesday.

The news of 32-year-old constable Sadik's death left his wife Khaja Bi and two daughters -- nine-year-old Feroz Fathima and seven-year-old Reena Naushik Ali -- speechless. For a while they hoped that the information would turn out to be false. Sadik was killed by naxalites near Ravulapuram village of Bollapalli mandal in the district on Tuesday evening.

"I had dropped him at the bus station in the morning and never thought that he would be gone forever," said Sadik's brother Sk. Husain, a constable attached to the District Police Office in Guntur, wailing inconsolably. Relatives, friends and colleagues started pouring in and were busy consoling the family, till late into the night. Sadik's father was seen crying silently.

Sadik was soft-spoken and disciplined, said his colleague M.V. Narsimha Rao.

Colleagues upset

Some of Sadik's colleagues blamed the police top brass for the incident. "Even after Sadik worked with the special party police for two years, what was the need to post him again in the extremist-affected Bandlamotu police station?" asked a close associate of Sadik.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Corporate look for GMC office soon
Pall of gloom over police quarters
Maoists kill constable

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu