Samajwadi Party leader shot in Kakori; 3 kin sustain wounds

LUCKNOW: In yet another low for city policing, a group of 18 to 22 assailants fired indiscriminately at a Samajwadi Party leader Haji Kamal Siddiqui (48) and his kin on the outskirts of the city on Saturday noon.
Three persons who sustained gunshot wounds and were undergoing treatment at KGMU's trauma centre, include Siddiqui's son who got married on Thursday. The newly married Akram was most serious of the three and continues to battle for his life.
The incident took place around 2.15pm at Dubbaga area in Kakori and state working committee member Siddiqui was the target of the assailants. The two sides clashed near his residence as gunshots echoed in the area for a while before help arrived. Police recovered fired bullet shells, a broken rifle, three motorcycles and a Honda Civic car left at the spot by the assailants.
A native of Maleshamau village in Gomtinagar, Siddiqui ventured into the real estate business decades back and bought a huge chunk of prime land on the Lucknow-Hardoi highway opposite Dubagga fish market. He ran a private plotting scheme under Purania Sahakari Grah Sansthan Samiti and had been selling plots. Known as Haji colony in the area, the estimated worth of the land chunk measuring over 65,000 sq ft valued at more than Rs 3 crore.
Over five years back, Siddiqui had sold one of the plots (not more than 3,000 sqft) to Nainital-based Aslam alias Ajmal, said police. According to Ayaaz, Siddiqui's brother-in-law, Aslam had sold the plot to another person some months back.
"Siddiqui's family did not point fingers at anyone. He was in dispute with Ashraf over payment of Rs 1 lakh that Haji had spent to erect a boundary around the plot. The gate leading to the plot had been locked and the group was trying to enter forcibly the plot when Siddiqui arrived with his supporters," said Subhash Chandra, inspector general of Lucknow zone.
He started threatening the group and fired a gunshot with his licensed revolver in the air to scare away the mob. The assailants too were armed and one of them managed to overpower Siddiqui. "The unidentified assailant then shot him in the face. Akram charged at the assailants and was shot in the abdomen. The assailants then injured the deceased's younger son Ashraf in the thigh and deceased's brother Rafeeq in the arms," said Saumitra Yadav, additional superintendent of rural police.
Siddiqui's supporters rushed to the spot and sensing trouble, the group left the area in a hurry. The car left behind at the site was traced to Shamsuddin, a wholesale grain merchant in Dubagga. A youth identified as Faizan had borrowed the car on Saturday afternoon under some pretext. The motorcycles belonged to Rehan and Nadeem and police were finding out how the two were related to Aslam.
Police were carrying out raids to nab the suspects and will produce them before Siddiqui's kin on Sunday. Meanwhile, his family that includes wife and six children has been asked to recollect if he was ever involved in a dispute with anyone. The family possesses three licensed firearms and had considerable clout in the locality.
The senior superintendent of Lucknow police and deputy inspector general of Lucknow range have both gone on leave at a time when criminal offences are on the rise. In the past fortnight, spurt in sensational incidents has been noted and instead of strengthening grip on the situation, nobody remains in charge. As per sources, DIG Navniet Sekera has gone out of the city for health check up while SSP Praveen Kumar is on 2-day leave to attend wedding of his younger brother in Bhopal and is expected back late Sunday. "DIG had taken permission long back and SSP also requested to go on leave," added a senior officer.