IANS/Hyderabad
A court in Andhra Pradesh’s Medak district yesterday sent Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi to jail in a case filed against him seven years ago.
The MIM chief surrendered before a court in Sangareddy town, 65km from Hyderabad, which remanded him in judicial remand until Feb 2. He was subsequently shifted to a jail in the town.
Owaisi’s lawyers filed a bail petition but the court adjourned the hearing to today.
The MIM chief’s arrest sparked tension and violent protests in parts of Hyderabad. Protesters stoned shops and buses in some places. Shops and business establishments were shut down in the old city and other Muslim-majority areas as MIM leaders called for a strike.
Police beefed up security in Hyderabad and other towns in Telangana region. Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma said barring minor incidents, the situation was peaceful.
Owaisi, who is the prime accused in the case, surrendered after the court dismissed his petition seeking cancellation of a warrant.
The MIM leader, his younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi and others were booked by police on March 16, 2005, for obstructing officials from demolishing a place of worship to facilitate road extension at Muttangi village.
The police reopened the case against them after Owaisi junior, a sitting legislator, was arrested on January 8 for making hate speeches in Nirmal town of Adilabad district. The younger Owaisi is charged with sedition, waging war against the nation and criminal conspiracy, and is currently lodged in a jail in the district.
Police had presented Akbar Owaisi, as he is popularly called, in the Sangareddy court on January 16. The court had adjourned the hearing until January 28.
Tension also prevailed in Sangareddy as MIM workers protested against Asad Owaisi’s arrest and people in some areas voluntarily shut down shops. Police baton-charged a group of protesters near the court complex and have beefed up the security in the communally sensitive town. The MIM has called for a shutdown today.
Asad Owaisi’s arrest is a big blow to the party as it came close on the heel of Akbar Owaisi’s arrest. A court in Nirmal adjourned to tomorrow the hearing on the bail petition of Akbar.
The MIM, which has seven members in the 294-member Andhra Pradesh assembly, had severed ties with the ruling Congress in November last year over the expansion of a temple adjacent to the historic Charminar in Hyderabad.
The party along with some other Muslim organisations had also launched a campaign to expose what it called the communal attitude of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, and organised public meetings in various towns. During one such meetings at Nirmal, Akbar Owaisi made provocative comments, which finally led to his arrest.
Asad Owaisi blamed the vindictive attitude of the Congress government for his brother’s arrest. Addressing a public meeting at Narayanpet in Mahabubnagar district on Sunday, he said the MIM was facing challenging times, but would not be cowed by false cases and would fight back.
Political analysts say the party is facing an unprecedented situation. This is the first time in the party’s history that its top leadership is behind bars.
The Owaisi family has dominated Hyderabad politics since Abdul Wahid Owaisi, the grandfather of Asad and Akbar, revived the MIM with a new constitution in 1958.