Bhim Army, AIMIM allege attacks; FIRs registered

Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh): The AIMIM and Bhim Army have registered complaints regarding the alleged attack on them.

The convoy of Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar was allegedly fired upon, late on Sunday night.

Both the FIRs have been lodged at the Kotwali police station. One complaint was lodged by Chandrapal Singh Gautam of Bhim Army against unnamed persons.

The other was lodged by Dilshad Ahmad, who is the AIMIM candidate in Bulandshahr. Ahmad has alleged that he was attacked by unidentified persons and was asked to withdraw from the electoral fray.

On Sunday, Azad Samaj Party national president Chandrashekhar Azad claimed that shots were fired at his convoy in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr.

In a tweet, he said that shots were fired when party members were campaigning for Assembly by-polls that have been scheduled for November 3.

"Opposition parties have been terrified of our candidate in Bulandshahr elections and today's rally worried them, due to which my convoy was fired at in a cowardly manner. This shows their desperation...they want the atmosphere to be toxic but we will not let this happen," Chandra Shekhar Azad tweeted late on Sunday night.

The by-polls in Uttar Pradesh for seven seats, including the Bulandshahr one, mark the political debut of the Bhim Army which has, till now, remained a quasi-political outfit.

The incident comes days ahead of the November 3 Bulandshahr by-election.

Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Santosh Kumar Singh has denied an attack on Chandra Shekhar's convoy.

The SSP said there was information about a mutual conflict between workers affiliated to the candidates of Azad Samaj Party and AIMIM.

The police official said reports about an attack on Chandra Shekhar's convoy are yet to be confirmed.

Chandra Shekhar has named Haji Yamin as his party's candidate for the Bulandshahr bypoll and his Azad Samaj Party is also contesting as many as 30 seats in Bihar under the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) banner, which will be led by the Jan Adhikar Party of Rajesh Ranjan a.k.a. Pappu Yadav.

Chandra Shekhar has been a fierce critic of the Uttar Pradesh government over the alleged gang rape and torture of a Dalit woman in Hathras last month, and its track record in protecting people belonging to the marginalised communities.

(With inputs from IANS)