HYDERABAD: In a major reprieve to the Muslim youth who were falsely implicated by the city police in Mecca Masjid bomb blast case and tortured as part of investigation, the state government would give compensation as per the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities.More than four years after the incident, 70 youth would be given a total of Rs 70 lakh by the state government, which is the first of its kind in giving compensation to victims of police torture in terror related cases. The minority welfare department would release the funds.Based on the recommendations of the NCM, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy assured that the cases registered against the Muslim youths in the Mecca Masjid blast case would be withdrawn and they would be compensated. In line with his promise, the amount was released and would be disbursed.According to officials, out of the 70 youths, 20 would get Rs 3 lakh each while the remaining will get Rs 20,000 each.National Minorities Commission chief Wajahat Habibullah had asked the state government in August to implement the commission's recommendations and pay the compensation by deducting the amount from the salaries of policemen who were responsible for implicating the youths."The Hyderabad police booked a record 38 cases and picked up as many as 107 Muslim youth, mostly from poor families, kept them in illegal custody at different police stations and tortured them for days in a bid to force them to own up the bomb blast at the mosque," MIM floor leader in the Assembly, Akbaruddin Owaisi pointed out.Akbaruddin said that 410 youths, including 150 students, were facing criminal cases in connection with the communal riots in the old city and also in the aftermath of the Mecca Masjid blasts.
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