Corporator attacked for motion against Vajpayee tribute

A corporator from Aurangabad, belonging to the Owaisi brothers-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) were bashed up by a group of BJP corporators on Friday after he opposed a motion to pay tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The MIM has distanced itself from Syed Mateen's act saying that his act was in an individual capacity.

"What he has done is in his individual capacity. The party runs under the guidance of Asaduddin Owaisi… he has not issued any such 'farman'… what the corporator has done is completely and totally in his individual capacity," MIM MLA Imtiaz Jaleel said.

In the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Shiv Sena corporator Raju Vaidya moved the motion to pay tributes to Vajpayee, who passed away on Thursday. However, Mateen rose to oppose it.

At least 10-12 BJP corporators and a few from Shiv Sena, including some women members, dragged Mateen from his seat and pounced on him, brutally hammered him while inside the House, slapping, punching and kicking repeatedly on the bench and the floor.

AMC security staff and officials rescued Mateen to safety.

The CCTV video of the incident went viral on social media and the assault sparked angry reactions.

The MIM has 25 corporators in the 113-ward AMC.

"Whatever I did was in a democratic manner," Mateen later said, adding that he was manhandled by other corporators.

Meanwhile, Pramod Rathod, one of the BJP corporators who was named by Mateen, demanded that he be expelled from the civic body. "What he has done is anti-national by opposing a resolution to oppose pay tributes to Vajpayee," he said.

"We have asked the police to investigate the episode based on the CCTV recordings of the proceedings and take action against those who have broken the law. This will send a proper message to all," Jaleel said.