NEW DELHI: Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, commonly known as Engineer Rashid, was attacked on Sunday when a man stomped on the bonnet of his vehicle’s cabinet and shattered the front windshield.
The incident occurred in the Langate area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, on the final day of electioneering. Rashid, who was inside the car at the time of the attack, escaped unhurt.
A video of the incident, which surfaced on social media, shows the assailant climbing onto the vehicle, aggressively stomping on the bonnet before damaging the windshield.The reason behind the attack remains unclear, as Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) has not yet issued an official statement.
PTI sources suggest that the attacker is a former aide of the MP, someone who played a key role in Rashid’s successful Lok Sabha election campaign earlier this year. However, the two reportedly had a falling out after the elections, which may have contributed to the motive behind the assault.
Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a prominent political figure in Jammu and Kashmir, gained attention after defeating Omar Abdullah in the recently concluded General Elections. Rashid, who has been active in the ongoing assembly election campaign, was granted interim bail in a terror-funding case to allow him to continue campaigning. He was arrested in 2019 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with a 2017 terror-funding case.