Arrah(Bihar): The cavalcade of CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar was attacked here on Friday by a mob opposing his statewide tour against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), seriously damaging the vehicle in which he was travelling and leaving several people injured.
The former JNU student leader was on his way to address a rally in this west Bihar town, where Bhojpur district is headquartered, when the attack happened.
"Our cavalcade has been attacked many times since the 'Jan Gan Man Yatra' began on January 30. Today was, indeed, a close shave. It was the first time that the vehicle in which we were sitting was attacked, though thankfully we escaped unhurt," Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed Khan, who has been accompanying Kumar on the statewide tour, said.
The incident happened when the cavalcade, comprising about five vehicles, was coming from neighbouring Buxar where Kumar had addressed a public meeting earlier in the day.
"We were following a police vehicle deployed by the state government in the wake of the previous attacks. The driver braked upon noticing 25-30 youths, some of them on motorcycles and others on foot, standing on the roadside armed with sticks, stones and wearing headbands with menacing
slogans inscribed," the MLA said.
"Unfortunately, the police vehicle had gone some distance ahead and the attackers pounced on us. Several pieces of rock hit our vehicle, damaging it to an extent that it was rendered unusable. In the meantime, the policemen realised something was amiss and they rushed back and tried to disperse the mob," Khan said.
The Congress leader said that he and Kumar escaped unhurt and got into another vehicle, while one of their associates had his skull open by a stone that hit him.
"He has been sent to hospital. We were asked by the police personnel to zoom past the site of trouble which we did," he added.
Some of the motorcyclists tried to follow the cavalcade but were knocked down by the speeding cars, Khan said, adding that it was a painful sight.