BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som survived an attack early Thursday at his residence in Meerut by unidentified miscreants who opened fire and hurled a grenade, police said. The grenade didn’t go off, as reported in Hindustan Times.
Police recovered empty cartridges and an unpinned grenade from the spot. SSP Akhilesh Kumar and other police officers examined the spot and the bomb squad was called to examine the grenade.
“Investigations are being carried out from all possible angles to identify and arrest the assailants,” Kumar said.
Som, an MLA from Sardhana with Z category security, returned to his Mall Road residence around 1 am on Thursday. The assailants who allegedly followed the lawmaker in a car, opened fire barely few minutes after the MLA entered the house.
The driver also tried to barge into the house but the guard at the gate foiled his attempt. One of the attackers then hurled a grenade and escaped.
A dog squad and forensic teams were also called in as part of the investigation.
News agency ANI quoted Som as saying that he had received a call two years ago that he would be killed with a grenade. Som allegedly received a threatening telephone call from ISIS in December 2015 and the investigating agencies later found it was made through the Internet.
He again received a threat call in December 2017.
This is not the first time that Som, who is an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, has been attacked. A few years ago unidentified assailants fired at his house in Sardhana town.
Four constables and a head constable deputed for the security of Som were suspended for negligence in discharging their duty during the attack. They allegedly didn’t retaliate during the attack; two constables were found absent from duty.
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