Bandra poll rally stabbing: Neither victim nor supporters saw assailant

MUMBAI: Sena’s Bandra candidate Haji Salim Qureshi, who suffered injuries to the abdomen after being stabbed while campaigning on Wednesday, didn’t see the assailant either approaching him or fleeing the spot nor did his supporters, he told police. He said he realised he had been attacked only after exiting the narrow, packed lane he and his supporters were in in Bandra East’s Dyaneshwar Nagar.“I felt a pinching pain in my stomach but realised it was a stab injury only after the party workers and I exited the lane,” he said in his statement to Kherwadi police. The ward 92 candidate, whose injuries necessitated 56 stitches and was stable in hospital, said his campaign trail on the day included at least 100 people, including party workers. With neither Qureshi nor his supporters having spotted the attacker, Kherwadi police are yet to zero in on the identity. “There is no CCTV camera at the spot. We found a few outside the locality and are working on recovering data from it,” said a police officer.Kherwadi police have registered an FIR under BNS Section 118 (2) (causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons) against an unknown person. Multiple teams have been formed by the zonal DCP and the city crime branch to track down the assailant.Police said they are exploring all angles, including revenge and the suspected involvement of an alleged builder lobby. A similar stabbing attack on Qureshi in 2017, while campaigning for his wife during the BMC election, has come under the lens, too. He was also a suspect in a 2019 murder case lodged with BKC police. “The motive behind the attack is unclear as of now,” said another police officer.Sena worker Suleman Kherani from Qureshi’s office told TOI that the candidate had spoken about a builder lobby at a rally the day before the attack. “No one saw anyone stabbing as it was crowded. All saw him bleeding only after we exited the lane. We rushed him on a scooter to the hospital. There was no damage to any vital organ,” he said. Kherani said he was unaware of the 2017 attack.The last attack on Qureshi had drawn significant attention. He had not stood for elections then but was campaigning for his wife, Gulnaz Qureshi, who went on to win from the same ward where he is contesting from now.In 2019, BKC police had arrested seven persons for allegedly murdering one Aamir Shaikh (56) and attacking two of his friends with iron rods in Bandra for allegedly criticising Gulnaz and a builder on a social media post over a slum redevelopment project. Qureshi was one of the suspects.