Hyderabad: Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
leader and MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi was seriously injured after a
group of ten assailants opened fire on him here on Saturday even as
one of the assailants was killed in retalitatory firing,
police said.
Another MIM legislator Ahmed Balala and one more person
accompanying Akbaruddin in his car were also injured in the
attack at Barkas under Chandrayangutta assembly constituency
in the old city.
The gunman of MLA Balala opened firing in defence killing
one assailant while two others sustained serious injuries,
police said.
Doctors at a corporate hospital where the injured
assailants were admitted said that one of them was brought
dead who was identified as Ibrahim.
Land dispute was said to be the reason for the attack
on Akbaruddin, who had been preventing land-grabbers from
encroaching on government land, mostly in the old city area.
The police arrested the main suspect Mohd Pahalwan when
he visited the corporate hospital where the two seriously
injured were admitted, they said adding efforts were on to nab
others who were involved in the attack.
"We have information that six more persons were involved
in the attack, Police Commissioner A K Khan told reporters.
State Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy said special
teams have been formed to nab the attackers and steps have
been taken to maintain law and order situation in the city.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is also the floor leader of MIM in
Andhra Pradesh Assembly, sustained bullet injuries (apart
from injuries due to the sharp weapons) and was immediately
rushed to Owaisi hospital where he was operated on.
Four bullets were removed during the operation, a senior
health officer, deputed by the state government to monitor
Owaisi`s health, told agency.
"Two bullets were removed from intestine, one bullet each
was removed from left abdomen side and shoulder. However, no
vital organs were damaged and he is safe," he said adding the
MLA was being shifted to a corporate hospital in Banjara Hills
for better care.
Son of MIM-founder and former MP Sultan Salahuddin
Owaisi, Akbaruddin was first elected to the state Assembly in
1999 and served as deputy to his elder brother Asaduddin
Owaisi who was leading the MIM in the House.
Meanwhile, MIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who flew
in from Delhi and visited the hospital, demanded an impartial
investigation in the incident.
"It was a brutal attack on our party MLA. I demand the
union and the state government conduct investigations into the
attack and find out the conspirators", Asaduddin said.
Political parties, including TDP, BJP, Lok Satta and
Left parties, condemned the attack and demanded the culprits
be brought to book.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy held a
high-level meeting with Sabita Indra Reddy and later visited
the injured MLA at the hospital.
Assembly Deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar were among
several political leaders who visited the hospital.
After the incident, shops and business establishments
pulled down their shutters in several localities in old city
which were gripped by tension.
Hundreds of supporters of the MLA assembled before the
hospital following the incident even as a heavy police force
was deployed.
It was only after an announcement was made that
Akbaruddin was safely operated and his condition was out of
danger that the youths dispersed raising pro-Akbaruddin
slogans.
PTI
