All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, on Friday, November 22, claimed that the party workers are being targeted by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police and are falsely charged with cases, following the untoward events that unfolded in the Meerapur Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh bypolls on Wednesday, November 20.
Asaduddin Owaisi, on X, said that in the Kakaroli village of Meerapur, Muzaffarnagar district, at least 80 AIMIM workers have been falsely booked, and the women voters, who stood up against the alleged hooliganism on the voting day were also booked on false charges.
The AIMIM chief called the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP rule of UP a ‘misrule’.
On election day, multiple incidents where Muslim voters were forcefully stopped from casting their votes by the UP police leading to protests were reported. The police had also reportedly lathi-charged voters who asserted their voting rights near the booths.
Electors prevented from voting in Meerapur, 5 cops suspended
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Meerapur Assembly candidate Mohammad Arshad claimed the voter turnout in the Kakroli area was low as police were not letting people leave their homes.
“Police are harassing voters and not allowing them to step out of their homes. They are behaving like people’s enemies during this festival of democracy,” he told reporters.
“This is not a people’s election, this is the government’s election,” he added. Arshad also claimed that AIMIM workers were detained by police.
Police officer threatens to open fire in Meerapur
A video had gone viral from Meerapur from the day of the election, where a police officer is seen pointing a gun towards burqa-clad women of a locality, who tried to go to the polling station, threatening to open fire, claiming that they had orders to shoot.
However, officials have claimed that it was done to stop protests in the locality.
