Plot to kill MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi busted

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Bangalore police have busted a plot to assassinate MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi with the arrest of four gangsters, sources said.

Two of the gangsters including their leader K. Giri was injured while trying to escape in Hindupur town of Anantapur district, bordering Karnataka. Karnataka police arrested the gangsters and shifted them to Bangalore.

According to information reaching here, a joint team of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh police intercepted the gangsters and seized weapons. Giri and another accused were injured while trying to escape.

The gang had reportedly taken 'supari' or a contract to assassinate Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi.

Police in Hyderabad said they were trying to gather information from their counterparts in Bangalore. It was immediately not clear who had hired the gang to kill Akbaruddin.

The young leader had escaped an assassination attempt in Hyderabad in 2011. He had sustained bullet and stab injuries in an attack by his rivals. A member of the rival gang was killed when a security guard of Ahmed Balala, a MIM legislator, opened fire to save Akbaruddin.

The 42-year-old was re-elected in the recent elections to Andhra Pradesh assembly from Chandrayangutta constituency here.

Akbaruddin is the younger brother of MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.