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| Akbaruddin Owaisi: injured in attack |
Andhra Pradesh legislator and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was injured when assailants attacked him here yesterday, sparking tension in the old city of Hyderabad.
He was rushed to hospital where his condition was reported to be stable.
Another MIM legislator, Ahmed Balala, was also injured when he tried to save Owaisi.
One of the assailants was shot dead and two others were injured by the legislator’s security guards.
A profusely bleeding Owaisi, who is the MIM floor leader in the state assembly, was rushed to the Owaisi Hospital in Santosh Nagar.
State Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy quoted doctors at the hospital as saying that Owaisi’s condition was stable.
Earlier, Additional Inspector General of Police A R Anuradha also told reporters outside the hospital that Owaisi’s condition was stable.
“Doctors are monitoring him carefully. We are sure he will come out safely,” she said while trying to pacify angry MIM activists.
As tension gripped the old city, shopkeepers downed shutters and buses went off the roads.
Director General of Police K Aravinda Rao said adequate forces have been deployed to maintain law and order.
“The situation is under control and we are not expecting any serious trouble,” he said.
Doctors said three bullets were removed from Owaisi’s body while another surgery was likely later to remove a fourth bullet.
The attack took place around 11.30am when Owaisi was visiting his Chandrayangutta assembly constituency in the old city area of Hyderabad.
According to witnesses, four to five people attacked Owaisi with knives when he was getting into his car after attending a meeting in Barkas neighbourhood.
As an injured Owaisi tried to take to the steering wheel, the attackers opened fire at him.
His party colleague and legislator Balala rushed to Owaisi’s rescue. But Balala and his driver aide also sustained bullet injuries.
According to the police chief, security guards of the legislators opened fire, killing one attacker.
Two are in serious condition, the DGP said.
The drivers of the legislators and a corporator of the MIM were also injured in the attack suspected to be mounted by Mohamed Pehlwan and his relatives over a land dispute.
Blood stains, bullets, knives, mobile phones, footwear and sunglasses were seen strewn around at the scene. Owaisi’s car also bore bullet marks and blood stains.
Pehlwan had supported Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) against Owaisi during the 2009 elections and had even clashed with Owaisi’s supporters on a few occasions.
MIM sources said Pehlwan, accused of being a land grabber, attacked Owaisi as the legislator had handed over to the authorities a piece of land for building houses for the poor after freeing it from encroachers.
However, MBT leader Amjadullah Khan Khalid alleged Owaisi had been harassing the family of Pehlwan, whom he called a businessman.
Pehlwan told a TV channel his nephew was gunned down and two other relatives were injured by Owaisi’s security guards. He accused the legislator of targeting him and his family.
Angry MIM activists attacked a hall and two hotels reportedly belonging to the family of Pehlwan.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who reviewed the security situation with his cabinet colleagues, rushed to the Owaisi Hospital.
The 39-year-old Akbaruddin Owaisi is the younger brother of MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, a Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad.
The younger Owaisi is the leader of MIM in the state assembly. The party has seven legislators in the 294-member house.
The leader is the managing director of the Owaisi Hospital and also heads a group of institutions, including medical and engineering colleges.
He became the MIM floor leader in the state assembly in 2004, replacing his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi, who moved to the Lok Sabha in 2004 after their father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi decided not to contest elections due to ill health.
Salahuddin Owaisi, who dominated the politics in Hyderabad for four decades, was elected to parliament for six consecutive terms (1984-2004. He died in 2008 at the age of 77.
It was Salahuddin’s father Moulana Abdul Wahid Owaisi who revived the MIM in 1958 with a new party constitution.