LONDON: British Muslims said they feared police were operating under a shoot to kill policy after a man was gunned down at an Underground train station Friday following a new wave of bomb attacks, reports AFP. The Muslim Council of Britain called on police to explain why the Asian man, reported as a suspected suicide bomber by Sky News, was shot dead at Stockwell station in south London. Police have confirmed that officers pursued and shot a man who was pronounced dead at the scene, but have offered no explanation for the shooting. The incident came a day after another apparent wave of would-be suicide bombers hit London’s mass transport system, two weeks after four suspected Islamists blew themselves up on trains and a bus, killing 56 people. No one was injured in Thursday’s attacks after the bombs apparently failed to go off. A Muslim Council spokesman said Muslims were jumpy and nervous and feared reprisal attacks. I have just had one phone call saying _What if I was carrying a rucksack?’, said Inayat Bunglawala, referring to the rucksack bombs used in the London attacks. It’s vital the police give a statement about what occurred (at Stockwell) and explain why the man was shot dead, Bunglawala said. We are getting phone calls from quite a lot of Muslims who are distressed about what may be a shoot-to-kill policy. Stockwell is one stop south of Oval station, one of three Underground stops targeted on Thursday, together with a double-decker bus. Witnesses told Sky News that police shot the man five times at close range after shouting at him to stop. There may well be reasons why the police felt it necessary to unload five shots into the man and shoot him dead, but they need to make those reasons clear, Bunglawala said. Police on Friday sealed off the home of a Muslim convert identified as one of the suspected July 7 suicide bombers after a suspected attempt to burn the building. Officers were called to Germaine Lindsay’s home in Aylesbury, a town just outside London, shortly after 6:30 am (0530 GMT) after reports of a strong smell of petrol in the street, officers said. UNB from London adds: Although there have not been any repercussions, Bangladeshi Britons in East London got worried after the latest attempt at bombings in their neighborhood in the British capital today. A sense of anxiety and worry is there among the Bangladeshi British community following today’s attempted bombings as many of them felt that if the situation deteriorated, their businesses might be affected or racial tensions might surface. About security in the Bangladeshi-dominated East London after the incident near Oval in Southeast London, UNB correspondent Shafiqul Islam found the entire London City was put on high alert. All modes of transport are being checked at various points while several subway lines were suspended, says firsthand accounts of the tightened security measures. After the terror attempt near Oval, this correspondent went near the area after an hour of the incident; but he all roads were found closed. However, people resumed their normal life and business. AFP continues: Police briefly threw a cordon around a mosque in east London on Friday, a day after apparent attempts to carry out suicide bombings in the British capital, BBC News 24 television reported. The East London Mosque, on Whitechapel Road, one of the biggest and most modern in the capital, was surrounded by police officers, some of whom were armed, a woman at the scene told the all-news channel by telephone. Not long afterwards, it said the police had stood down, as the focus of attention remained on an Underground subway station in south London where a man-a would-be suicide bomber, according to reports-was shot by police.
