The Hindu : Bomb hurled at U.P. MLA

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 08, 2002

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Bomb hurled at U.P. MLA

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW AUG. 7. The Uttar Pradesh MLA, Atiq Ahmed, was injured when a bomb was hurled at him inside a court premises in Allahabad today, while on his way, under police custody, to appear in a criminal case.

Mr. Ahmed was being brought from the Naini jail, where he had been lodged since his arrest a few weeks earlier, when the alleged attacker, Ikhlaq Ahmed, hurled a country-made bomb. An assistant sub-inspector and a head constable, who were part of the escort, were also injured. Ikhlaq Ahmed was immediately overpowered by police and taken into custody. The injured MLA and police personnel were taken to the Swaruprani hospital where they are stated to be out of danger.

The Principal Secretary, Home, Anil Kumar, said that Ikhlaq Ahmed had six more bombs in a bag and they were seized. The assailant later said that his brother was killed by the MLA in 1995 in the same court compound and that he wanted to take revenge. The MLA had been chargesheeted in the murder case, which was investigated by the Crime Branch of the State CID.

Ikhlaq Ahmed was also involved in another murder in 1997 and had been absconding for the past four years, Mr. Kumar said.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, who had recently alleged that she faced a threat to her life from Atiq Ahmed, condemned the incident. Atiq Ahmed belongs to the Apna Dal.

In a statement, Ms. Mayawati said such incidents should be condemned by all, as there was no room for violence and terror in politics. She had directed police to investigate the case with all promptness.

Opposition leaders, mainly of the Samajwadi Party, were, however, not impressed by the Chief Minister's gesture and alleged that the attack had political overtones. The SP president, Ram Saran Das, and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Azam Khan, alleged that Ms. Mayawati was targeting members of the Opposition in a calculated manner.

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