5 Hindu Sena men held for vandalising MP Owaisi's home

New Delhi: The Delhi Police have arrested five members of Hindu Sena for allegedly defacing and vandalizing the official residence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi in the heart of the Capital on Ashoka Road —which is a high-security zone.

DCP(New Delhi) Deepak Yadav had said that they had detained five persons in connection with the incident. "The accused persons during interrogation are claiming that they are members of the Hindu Sena group and are based out of Northeast Delhi," a senior police officer said.

An FIR under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act has been registered in connection with the incident and the persons have been arrested, the officer confirmed.

The men allegedly damaged the entrance gate and windows of the house, police said, adding that after a PCR call was made regarding the incident, a team rushed to the spot and detained the accused persons.

According to photographs of the residence that have emerged so far, the nameplate of the Hyderabad MP has been broken. Reports also said that some damage was seen inside the gates as well.

Significantly, Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta has admitted that the vandalism had occurred during what he called one of their "protests".

"We are against the appeasement of the Muslim community that Owaisi has been doing through his speeches, completely ignoring the Hindus...that was the reason behind our agitation," he said, adding that however, the protest should have been carried out as per the law of the land.

Moreover, in a video released before attacking the MP's residence, one of the arrested accused, Lalit Kumar, who identifies himself as a local leader of Hindu Sena, calls the MP a "jihadi" and says that he and his associates would teach him a lesson.

Hours after the incident, the MP released a statement on Twitter, calling the attackers "radicalised goons", who "as usual came in a mob and not alone" and specifically chose a time when he was not there. He said the mob of around 13 people had axes and sticks and also pelted stones at his home.

Owaisi went on to say that Raju, the caretaker of the home for the last 40 years, was also assaulted by these men, who allegedly shouted communal slogans and threatened to kill the MP.

"Raju's grandkids are living in fear now. Raju has filed a complaint with police. Hope action will be taken... This is the third time that my residence has been attacked. Last time it was vandalised, @rajnathsingh was not only the Home Minister but also my neighbour... Election Commission HQ is right next door to my house, Parliament Street police station is right across my house. The Prime Minister's residence is 8 minutes away. If an MP's house is not safe, then what message is @AmitShah sending?" the MP asked, adding, "@PMOIndia preaches to the world how we must fight radicalisation, please tell who radicalised these goons? If these thugs think that this is going to scare me, they don't know Majlis and what we are made of. We'll never stop our fight for justice".