HYDERABAD : The one-man commission inquiring into the December 6 communal riots in the Old City on Monday questioned 23 residents of Sultanshahi area whose houses were burnt down and property damaged.

 

The state government had ordered a judicial probe into the recent communal riots that occurred in the Old City , which resulted in the death of five persons and the destruction of property worth lakhs of rupees. Retired sessions judge K Padmanabha Goud was heading the commission.

 

The session was organised at the Sultanshahi community hall. The victims were called in separately and questioned and their statements were recorded.

 

A riot victim, Varalaxmi, whose house in Sultanshahi was completely destroyed, said that she had been living in her sister’s house along with her four daughters since the communal riots.

 

N Vijaya Laxmi, another victim, said that the rioters had destroyed her house and all her property. "The have ruined my life,” she said. "My house and property were completely gutted by the rioters,” Naseem Sultana of Sultanshahi said. The commission will be examining the victims of Gowlipura and Shalibanda on February 10 and 11 respectively, sources said.