Cop shot dead in Andhra Pradesh, terror attack suspected

A police constable was killed and two of his colleagues injured when three masked motorcycle-borne assailants pumped bullets at a police party on picket duty in the Old City of Hyderabad on Friday. reports HT Correspondent.

A police constable was killed and two of his colleagues injured when three masked motorcycle-borne assailants pumped bullets at a police party on picket duty in the communally sensitive Old City of Hyderabad on Friday.

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City Police commissioner AK Khan said terror suspect Vicaruddin could have been behind the attack.

Vicaruddin, believed by the police to be associated with terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, has been missing from Hyderabad for the past three years after making a murderous attack on two police officials who tried to arrest him.

The police said he had a role in the shootout in the Old City during the second anniversary of the Mecca Masjid blasts in May 2009 in which a constable was killed.

"Yes. We do see similarities with last year's incident," Khan told Hindustan Times.

A resident of Malakpet in the old city, Vicaruddin is believed to have been trained at terror camps abroad. He reportedly developed links with terror groups during his visits to Oman, Qatar and Bangladesh.

The three constables were part of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police Force and were on picket duty at Khilwat in Hussaini Alam four days ahead of the third anniversary of the Mecca Masjid bomb blasts on May 18, 2007 in which nine people were killed.