Danishwar Hameed
A leader of Bhartiya Janta Party from Srinagar has allegedly assaulted his former associate and another person in the Srinagar district of central Kashmir.
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Speaking to The Kashmiriyat the man identified as Imad Ali Mir said that on Tuesday evening (30 May, 2023), he was on the way to his house in Balhama Srinagar, when a cavalcade of the security vehicles of the BJP leader followed the car with Imad and his friend onboard.
“The security vehicles of Aijaz Hussain, who is a member of Hajj committee and a DDC member from the Bhartiya Janta Party were initially following us, however, one of the vehicle overtook us and blocked over vehicle near Sempora Chowk. After they blocked our vehicle, we got out of ours and went to the vehicle with Aijaz Hussain onboard,” Imad Ali said.
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He said that he thought that the BJP leader wanted to speak to them, so they went out of their vehicle. “I got down from the vehicle towards the right side of the road and on the left, as Nazim tried to get out, the security personnel caught hold of Nazim and started assaulting him without any provocation,” he said.
When Imad saw his friend being assaulted and bleeding profusely from his head, he tried to make his way to help his friend, but the security personnel of the BJP leader blocked his way. “Nazim managed to escape during the assault when they caught hold of me and started thrashing me as well. The associates of the BJP leader also threatened us that they will burn our houses,” Imad told The Kashmiriyat.
Imad said that he was previously associated with the Bhartiya Janta Party and supported Aijaz Hussain in the last DDC election. “We thought he was from our own area (Balhama) and will work for the local people, however, he proved us wrong, which forced many of us to quit the party. This did not go well with the BJP leader,” Imad said in conversation with The Kashmiriyat over the phone.
Aijaz Hussain, the BJP leader has denied the allegations and accused the duo of being land grabbers.
A Police official said that the accused BJP member Aijaz Hussain Rather has been booked under sections 323 (assault) and 341 (wrongful restraint) IPC of Indian Penal code.
“The Complaint has been lodged under the FIR no 51/2023 u/s at Panthachowk Srinagar Police station,” Police said.