The Uttar Pradesh police shot the district president of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC), Tazim, in the leg during an alleged extrajudicial attack on Tuesday, intensifying the state’s crackdown following last week’s protest in Bareilly over the “I Love Muhammad” campaign.
According to police, a team had gone to arrest Tazim in connection with the protest that broke out after Friday prayers on September 26.
During the operation, Tazim allegedly opened fire on officers with a country-made pistol. In retaliation, the police shot him in the leg, police said.
“While trying to arrest him, the accused fired at the police team with a country-made pistol. Our team returned fire in self-defence, injuring him in the leg,” Additional Superintendent of Police Manush Pareek told reporters at a press briefing following the incident yesterday in Bareilly.
Tazim, who is undergoing treatment under police custody, is said to be a close aide of Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, the IMC chief and a prominent Muslim cleric in Bareilly.
“Tazim had earlier been booked under the UP Gangster Act and was involved in a case related to cow slaughter,” said Pareek.
Khan was arrested on Saturday and has since been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The arrest of Tazim marks an escalation in the crackdown on the IMC leadership. Besides him, 17 others have also been arrested, bringing the total number of arrests linked to the unrest to 73.
Among those arrested on Tuesday are Shamshad, Moin, Zakir Qureshi, Mehtab, Faizan, Abdul Nafees, Guddu Ahmad, Ayan, Rais, Sheru, Hassan, Kasaan, Amaan, Mohd. Harmain Raza, Nematulah, and one minor (15 years old) under sections 109(1)(2), 118(2), 121(1), 189(5), 191(2)(3), 195(1), 196(1)(2), 223, 310(2), 324(5)(6), 61(2), 62, 317(3) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and section 7 CLA, and ¼ Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and 3/25 Arms Act and others, according to the press release by the police.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.