Gunfire at Gudimalkapur expo in Hyderabad sparks panic among attendees

Hyderabad: A tense situation occurred in the early hours of the day at the ongoing Ramazan expo at King’s Palace in Hyderabad’s Gudimalkapur area when a gun being fired caused panic among visitors.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:30 am when an altercation broke out between the owners of a perfume shop and a toy shop.

According to Kulsumpura assistant commissioner Munawar, the argument began when the toy shop owner requested to see perfumes, but the perfume shop owner informed him that the shop was closed. The disagreement quickly escalated, leading to a confrontation.

Meer Hasimuddin, also known as Hyder, a former sarpanch from Parigi area and an associate of the expo organisers, intervened to de-escalate the situation.

However, his attempt to mediate took an unexpected turn when he became agitated and fired two shots into the air from his licensed pistol, causing chaos among the visitors present at the expo.

Witnesses reported a sense of shock and fear as attendees scrambled to flee the scene in the wake of the gunfire.

ACP Munawar confirmed that a case has been filed, and Hasimuddin is currently in custody. Police are also investigating the matter further.

In response to questions about the event’s organisers, ACP Munawar identified Meer Ali as the individual responsible for organising the expo.

Expressing her concern over the incident, Maria Arifuddin, an educationalist and social activist said, "How can the government allow round-the-clock permissions to operate business when they cannot provide enough security. That's why an incident happened at the ongoing Ramazan expo at King’s Palace. There are no protocol followed and scores of people gathered at a time. It looks like that, the government doesn't care about the lives of the people and they are giving such permissions for the expos without any enough security and police personnel."