One person was killed and five others were injured when the convoy of a Rashtriya Lok Dal leader was attacked by unidentified gunmen in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, the police said. While the party sources said the attack had a political motive, the police claim it was because of a family feud.
Haji Yunus, a senior Bahujan Samaj Party leader who finished second in the bypoll from the Buladandshahr Sadar seat in 2020, had joined the RLD on Saturday.
On Sunday, he was returning from village Bhaipura near Shikarpur bypass in Bulandshahr when his convoy was attacked by four or five unidentified assailants who came in a hatchback car. Police sources said at least 50 rounds were fired. Mr Yunus escaped unhurt but five members of his escort team got bullet wounds. Two of them got seriously injured and were referred to Delhi. One of them, Mohd. Khalid, died during treatment.
Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh said Mr. Yunus had accused his nephew Mohd. Anas, who is lodged in a jail, of plotting the attack. “Teams have been formed to nab the assailants,” he said.
An RLD spokesperson said the attack once again proved that the BJP government had failed to control the law and order in the State.
A former block pramukh, Mr. Yunus, considered to be a strongman in the region, is the younger brother of two-time BSP MLA Haji Alim who was killed in mysterious circumstances in October 2018. Initially, the police had described it as a case of suicide but his sons Mohd. Anas and Danish and Mr. Yunus had called it a murder. After 18 months of investigation, the Crime Branch of the U.P. Police finally arrested Anas for the murder. While Mr. Yunus expressed satisfaction, Mr. Danish has been accusing him of maligning the brothers.
