A day before polling for the Assembly elections, political rivalry took a nasty turn when a scuffle broke out between workers of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) at Tipu Nagar in Chamarajpet on Saturday, in which a Congress worker and his family were allegedly assaulted.
Congress workers told the police that Babur, a local resident, was assaulted by some Janata Dal (S) workers accompanied Ayub, an anti-social element in the area. Residents said Ayub and his aides forcibly entered Babur’s house and assaulted him as he was working for the Congress.
A neighbour said three women in the family — Mousin Taj, Nazima Taj and Nazma — were assaulted when they tried to intervene.
Babur told the police he was threatened by the same gang some days ago and warned against working for the Congress. On Saturday morning, he was again warned of an attack and the skirmish took place around noon.
Babur and his family named the attackers as Ayub, Nadeem, Shabbir, Chandan and Wasim along with two others.
Some prominent members of the Janata Dal (S) hastened to the police station hoping to arrive at a compromise but the police registered the case on Babur’s complaint.
Babur also said another Congress worker who had been similarly manhandled had not informed the police.