Victims weren't part of mob: Relatives

Relatives of a victim of police firing mourn at the Bowring hospital mortuary on Wednesday. DH PHOTO/JANARDHAN B K

Relatives of a victim of police firing mourn at the Bowring hospital mortuary on Wednesday. DH PHOTO/JANARDHAN B K

Relatives of a victim of police firing at the Bowring hospital mortuary on Wednesday. DH PHOTO/JANARDHAN B K

The three people killed in the police firing on Tannery Road on Tuesday night were actually bystanders caught in the crossfire, their families claimed.

Police identified the three deceased as Shaikh Siddique, 24, of Puttaswamy Layout, KG Halli; Wajid Pasha, 24, and Yasin Khan, 23, both from SK Garden. While Siddique died in front of the KG Halli police station, the other two were shot at outside the DJ Halli police station, according to a senior police officer.

Pasha, an AC mechanic by occupation, posthumously tested positive for Covid-19. Khan worked at a meat stall while Siddique was a daily wage labourer.

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Relatives of the deceased visited the Bowring hospital on Wednesday to collect the bodies. They claimed the deceased were innocent and had nothing to do with the mob.

A relative said Khan was shot at shortly after he stepped out to store the leftover meat in a freezer. “He had nothing to do with the violence,” the relative said about Khan.

A cousin of another deceased said he was fired upon while on his way to his sister’s house for dinner.

The families expressed anguish over the delay in handing over the bodies after the post-mortem. While police did hand over the bodies, they didn’t allow any funeral procession and directly took the bodies to the Khuddus Saheb Burial Ground on Nandidurga Road for the last rites.