Man who fired at AIMIM leader Owaisi is law graduate from Greater Noida: Cops

Twenty-five-year-old Sachin Sharma, who was arrested for allegedly firing at the vehicle of member of Parliament and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi at the Chhajarsi toll plaza in Hapur on Thursday evening, is a law graduate, said residents of his village Duriyai in Greater Noida, adding that they did not know how he became radicalised.

Sachin and his accomplice Shubham,28, fired several rounds at Owaisi’s car on Thursday evening. The AIMIM leader had a narrow escape and he later tweeted about the incident. Deepak Bhuker, superintendent of police, Hapur, said police have arrested the two suspects and recovered the weapon used in crime.

“The arrested persons said they were hurt by AIMIM leaders’ statements,” Bhuker said. Shubham is a resident of Saharanpur’s Sampla Begumpur area.

Following the attack, the government has given Z Category security to Owaisi.

Police said Sharma’s extremist views are visible on his Facebook wall. The name on the profile that is believed to be Sharma’s is “Deshbhakt Sachin Hindu,” in Hindi, they said.

Sharma’s cousin Amit said Sharma completed his Bachelors in Law from a private college in Ghaziabad and then LLM from CCS University, Meerut. “He did not enrol with the Bar to practise law and instead was helping his father in his labour contracting business. We do not know how he was radicalised,” Amit said.

When HT visited his house in Duruyai village, there was a tricolour and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flag hanging from the rooftop, pointing to his alleged links to the ruling party. Sharma had also posted several photos with BJP leaders on his Facebook wall, as well as that of his BJP membership card, police said.

However, the Gautam Budh Nagar of the BJP has distanced itself from Sharma. Its president Vijay Bhati said Sharma was not a BJP member. “He is not associated with the party,” he said. When asked about the party flag at Sachin’s house, Bhati said someone may have placed it there.

Duriyai village chief Dharmjeet Singh alias Bablu Chaudhury,45, said, “He had not shared any radical thoughts with villagers. We do not know how he took this step (attack on Owaisi),” he said.

Pradhan said it appeared that Sharma was upset by Owaisi’s speeches. “We will sensitise the local youth going forward,” he said.

Duriyai village is about six kilometres from Badalpur police station. The village has around 4,500 residents, mostly people belonging to Jat and Brahmin communities. While there are a few residents belonging to the Dalit community, there is not a single Muslim family in the village, Pradhan said.

Badalpur police on Friday interrogated Sharma’s parents in connection with the case. Harish Chander, deputy commissioner of police, Noida Central, said the police have verified Sachin’s background and found him named in an FIR, for assault of a person in 2019. “However, police had later found that he was not involved in the brawl. His name was removed from the FIR and a charge-sheet was filed against only two other named accused,” he said.

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