One of the two accused in the case where there was an attempt to shoot AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi told police that he had developed an enmity with him after watching his speeches on social media, and then decided to kill him, according to the FIR. The FIR registered showed that the accused initially did not answer questions properly, but when told that the entire incident had been captured on CCTV, revealed his plan, reported the Indian Express. The attack in Hapur took place on Thursday, February 3, in which the MP escaped unhurt. In a picture he tweeted, bullet holes were visible in the car, and pierced his car’s tyres as well.
Sachin Sharma, the accused, told the police that he wants to be a great politician, and that he often saw Owaisi’s speeches on social media. “I found his speeches harmful to the country and not good either. I consider myself a true patriot…In my mind, I had a big enmity with Asaduddin Owaisi,” he said. In the FIR, he says that through AIMIM’s Dasna Chairman Arif, he got to know that Arif was contesting as an MLA, and Owaisi was going to come for a campaign visit. “In my mind, I made a plan to kill Asaduddin Owaisi,” he says, adding that it was after this, he contacted his friend Shubham, the other accused in the case. Sachin says he used Arif to keep tabs on Owaisi’s movements.
Shubham and Sachin were then waiting for the right time, and had called off their plan to kill the MP at least twice before — once in Ghaziabad and once in Meerut, and called off both times as there were too many people.
After this, Owaisi headed to Kithore and there too there were too many people. The duo then learnt that after the event, the MP was going to return to New Delhi. “We got to know that Asaduddin Owaisi was returning to Delhi in his car so we thought that if he got away today too, then we do not know when we will get an opportunity again,” read the statement in the FIR.
They then headed towards the Chhajarsi toll booth, and targeted and shot at the car as soon as Owaisi’s car got there and slowed down. “As soon as I fired the first bullet, Owaisi saw me shooting and to save himself, he ducked to the lower portion of his car. So, I fired bullets to the lower half of his car. I hoped that Owaisi may have died,” according to Sachin’s statement to the police.
The Hapur police on Friday, February 4, then said it had arrested both Sachin and Shubham. The FIR was registered for attempt to murder in the case and the accused duo has been remanded in judicial custody, it said. Two pistols were seized from their possession and a Maruti Alto car was also impounded in connection with the case, police said.
Asaduddin Owaisi was given Z' category security, but he rejected the protection and asked the government to instead make him an A category citizen at par with all.
"Why was UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) not invoked against those who fired at me? ...I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in the Lok Sabha.