Owaisi leads foot march day after attack on Jaleel’s car in Sambhajinagar, police arrest 11 accused

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A day after AIMIM state president and former MP Imtiaz Jaleel's vehicle was attacked and attempts were allegedly made to drag him out of his SUV, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday took out a foot march in the old city amid heavy police bandobast.The foot march led by Owaisi and Imtiaz started from Champa Chowk and culminated at Buddi Lane, during which AIMIM tried to put up a united face by taking along the disgruntled party functionaries and even meeting some of them.Police authorities said the attack on Jaleel appeared to be pre-planned. According to the FIR registered at the Jinsi police station, some of the suspects threw eggs at Jaleel during the incident. "These eggs even hit some of the police personnel on duty, making their uniforms dirty," the FIR said.The Jinsi police have, so far, arrested 11 accused in the case, while Congress candidates and brothers Kaleem Qureshi and Habib Qureshi remain absconding. Investigation officer Aruna Ghule told TOI that six of the accused were arrested on Wednesday and produced before the court on Thursday, which remanded them in a day's police custody. "The remaining five arrested accused will be produced before the court on Friday," she said.The FIR was registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 132, 189(2), 191(2), 190, 126(2), 115(2), 352 and 351(2)(3), along with section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act, for offences such as rioting, unlawful assembly, voluntarily causing hurt and obstruction of public servants.Police commissioner Pravin Pawar said strict action would be taken against all those involved. "We have a no-nonsense policy when it comes to handling those who disrupt law and order. Our teams are working to nab each of the 50 to 60 accused named in the FIR. All of them have been identified using footage of the incident," Pawar told TOI, adding that police themselves are the complainants in the case.The incident occurred around 1.15pm on Wednesday at Jinsi Chowk during door-to-door campaigning ahead of the civic polls. The police said Jaleel was campaigning in the Baijipura area when residents waved black flags at him. Tension escalated at the Jinsi crossroads when Jaleel, accompanied by party candidates and supporters, came face to face with Congress candidate Kaleem Qureshi, leading to heated arguments and sloganeering between supporters of both sides. As the confrontation spiralled into a brawl, police resorted to a mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd. Shortly thereafter, videos surfaced on social media showing Jaleel's SUV being attacked as he was leaving the spot. One AIMIM worker travelling with him sustained injuries.Meanwhile, based on a complaint lodged by Shahed Khan, the youth who jumped in to save Jaleel from the attackers, the police said a second FIR against the Qureshi brothers and their associates was being registered at City Chowk police station. Police said the probe is underway, and further arrests are likely as additional footage and witness statements are examined.