UP Minister promises support to accused in Owaisi attack case

Lucknow: Calling the gunshot attack on the AIMIM chief Asadaddin Owaisi a conspiracy, the UP cabinet Minister Sunil Bharala announced support to the two persons, who were arrested in the case.

Bharala visited the families of Sachin Sharma and Shubham, the two who were arrested for the attack on Owaisi in western UP on February 4 attack, and vowed there will be a fair investigation into the matter.

"We will give full cooperation to Sachin and Shubham's family in every way. There will be a fair investigation in the matter," the minister tweeted in Hindi. The chairman and Minister of State for Labour Welfare Council of UP had on Tuesday, February 15, visited the family of Sharma in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

He had also claimed that the accused duo were wrongly implicated in the case and the matter will be cleared after a fair probe into the incident. The BJP leader also alleged that the episode appeared to be a conspiracy.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief's car came under attack in Hapur while he was returning to Delhi after attending election-related events in western UP on February 4 evening, a week before Assembly polls in the region. No one was injured in the episode. One of the accused was arrested the same day, while the other was held the next day of the incident.

Owaisi was extended Z-category security by the Union government after the attack, which he refused. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi urged the government to end radicalisation in the country. "I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA 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 had said in Parliament.