A day after the cavalcade of rebel Bharatiya Janata Party MP Raj Kumar Saini was allegedly attacked by a mob in Palwal, the police on Thursday claimed to have arrested a man in connection with the incident.
The accused has been identified as Bablu, the police said. The Kurukshetra Lok Sabha member escaped unhurt.
Mr. Saini was on the way to Hathin in Palwal after addressing a public meeting in Nuh’s Ferozepur Jhirka around 5 p.m. on Wednesday when the incident happened. He recently floated the Loktantra Suraksha Party and announced that he will contest the Lok Sabha and Haryana Assembly elections. The FIR registered by his personal assistant Purshottam states that around 50 armed persons waylaid Mr. Saini’s car near Rupraka village with the “intention to kill”.
He claimed the attackers broke the windows of Mr. Saini’s vehicle, tried to open the doors and even threw stones at other vehicles in the convoy. He added that security personnel came to the MP’s rescue. Mr. Saini reported the matter to Additional Director General of Police Akhil Ahmed and was rescued safely.
The complainant claimed a man who was part of the MP’s convoy had recorded the incident on his mobile phone and that the footage showed the faces of some of the attackers.
Palwal Superintendent of Police Waseem Akram said the mob did not throw stones and that the accused only banged the door of Mr. Saini’s car.
He said the attackers belong to the majority community in Haryana and the attack seemed motivated by assertions allegedly made by Mr. Saini against the community.
“We are interrogating Bablu to help identify more people,” said Mr. Akram