Poet Munawwar Rana’s son booked for staging attack on himself

Lucknow: A day after the Uttar Pradesh Police raided the house of Urdu poet Munawwar Rana in Lucknow, the police on Friday said his son Tabrez Rana had allegedly staged an attack on himself to frame his relatives in a property dispute.

Tabrez had claimed that he was attacked by unidentified persons, who opened fire at his SUV car on Monday evening near a petrol pump in the state capital’s Tripula area. The attackers fired two gunshots and fled from the spot. The bullets hit Tabrez’s SUV but he was left unhurt.

In a statement released here on Friday, the Rae Bareli police said that during investigation, it was found that Tabrez had a dispute with his uncles over a property issue.

Tabrez allegedly contacted Halim and told him to stage the attack which would not only help him frame his uncles but would create a conducive atmosphere for him to contest elections.

The police statement said Halim and three other persons identified as Sultan, Satyendra and Shubham have been arrested and weapons have been recovered from them.

Police have recorded the statement of Tabrez Rana and initiated a probe into the incident. He is a land dealer and told police that he had no enmity with anyone.

A case has been registered against Tabrez and the Rae Bareli police searched his father’s house in Lucknow during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The poet’s daughter Fauzia Rana has, however, accused the police of having barged into their house in the thick of the night without a warrant. She had earlier been booked by the Lucknow police for leading anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. – IANS