In a shocking incident, a low-intensity bomb was allegedly hurled at three-time Congress MLA NA Haris on Wednesday late evening in Shanthinagar, Bengaluru injuring six people. The blast reported at around 8:30 pm during a cultural programme in Bengaluru, as per reports.
According to reports, NA Haris, the 53-year-old MLA from Shanthinagar, was attending the birthday celebrations of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MGR organized by the locals close to his residence in Shanthinagar. As he sat on a chair, a bomb-like object was hurled at him, which exploded close to him, injuring him and five others sitting close to MLA.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Nalapad, son of NA Haris has suspected a foul play as he said that a small cracker bomb was thrown intentionally to hurt Haris. Nalapad said that his father was sitting on a chair and suddenly something that was hurled at him exploded beneath the chair. He sustained injuries to his leg and brought to the hospital where he is being treated by a team of doctors. Other injured supporters are also being attended to by the doctors, Nalapad said.
Following the blast, Haris and a few others who were standing close to the MLA sustained burn injuries and rushed to the nearby Philomena Hospital immediately and police officials from both the Ashok Nagar and Vivek Nagar visited the spot. The police officials are yet to confirm whether it was a bomb blast or due to the bursting of loud and powerful crackers.
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Chethan Singh Rathore, DCP (Central) visited the hospital and the blast site and summoned a team of forensic science lab experts to collect samples for ascertaining the nature of the blast.
Expressing shock over the incident, MLA Haris’ son Mohammed Nalapad said, “My father has been an MLA for 12-years and nothing of this sort had happened before in the constituency. We have no rivals and my father never had any gunmen. We are all shocked and have complained to the jurisdictional police.”
Meantime, Dr Shankar Prasad, Medical Director, St Philomena’s Hospital explained that Haris and others are currently being treated for minor injuries. Prasad said that none of them has any open cut injuries and they are being examined further.
NA Haris is a three-time MLA from Shantinagar constituency in Bengaluru, having been first voted to power in 2008. Haris served briefly as Chairman of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation following the 2018 Assembly Elections.