Owaisi rejects Z-category security

New Delhi: AIMIM president and MP Hyderabad Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday rejected 'Z' security cover extended to him by the government after an attack on him. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi urged the government to charge those who attacked him with stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and appealed to end radicalisation in the country.

"I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me?... I want to live, to speak. My life will



be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in Parliament.

On Thursday, gunshots were fired at Owaisi's vehicle at Hapur in western Uttar Pradesh when he was returning to Delhi after campaigning for the assembly elections. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the state government has arrested the culprits and also seized the weapon and vehicle used in the attack.

Goyal said that Home Minister Amit Shah will make a statement in the House on Monday.