Attack on Bhim Army chief: Arrested accused tell police they were 'hurt' by his remarks

The four people arrested for an attack on Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad have told police that they were "hurt" by his recent remarks, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Aazad was injured when assailants opened fire on his car in Deoband in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district on Wednesday and the four people were arrested from Ambala in Haryana on Saturday and brought to Saharanpur.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar identified the arrested accused as Vikas alias Vikky, Prashant and Lavish -- all residents of Rankhandi in Deoband -- and Vikas, a resident of Karnal district in Haryana.

Also Read | Not against UCC, but don't endorse the way BJP seeks to implement it: Mayawati

He said two country-made pistols used in the crime and ammunition have been recovered from them.

During interrogation, the accused told the police that they were "hurt" by Aazad's recent remarks made in Delhi and other places.

They carried out the attack on Aazad as they were upset by his "inappropriate remarks" (ulta sidhe bayano)", the police said in the statement, without giving out any specific remarks.

According to the police, on getting information about a programme of Aazad in Deoband, the accused made a plan to target him and did a recce of the area.

Aazad, 36, had gone to attend a 'terhavin' ritual at a supporter's home in Deoband. The assailants fired "four shots" at his SUV when he was leaving after the programme around 5 pm.

The accused told the police that they had two pistols and the vehicle in which they were travelling belonged to and was driven by Karnal-resident Vikas.

As soon as Aazad's vehicle slowed down near a speed-breaker, the accused overtook the vehicle and fired three rounds at him, they told police.

Deoband-resident Vikky fired two rounds and Prashant fired one round and then the accused sped away, the police said.

After going some distance, the vehicle ran out of fuel and they left the vehicle at Miragpur. The vehicle was recovered by the police.

Director General of Police Vijaya Kumar has given a reward of Rs 50,000 and a citation to the police team for cracking the case within 72 hours, the statement said, and added that after the incident, police teams were conducting raids at places like Delhi-NCR, Uttarakhand, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Haryana.

It received information that the attackers were trying to surrender in a court in Ambala.

"Police with the help of Special Task Force (STF) of Haryana Police took them into custody on Saturday and after that they were brought to Saharanpur," according to the statement.

According to the police, Lavish and Vikas of Deoband have four cases registered against them, while Prashant faces two cases. This was the first case registered against Karnal-resident Vikas at Deoband police station.