AN OPEN display of political power at Alabar, a densely populated Muslim area in Kumasi, Sunday morning, has landed a top National Democratic Congress (NDC) man in trouble.
Mohammed Deen Yakub aka Alhaji Kamal, the 2012 NDC parliamentary candidate for Manhyia South in Kumasi, had been arrested by the Kumasi Zongo police for allegedly shooting the leg of a 24-year-old man with a pump action gun.
Salao, the victim, was said to have been hit in the left leg when the trigger-happy NDC man, who was openly displaying power, allegedly pulled the trigger in public, sending the young man down in tears.
Alhaji Kamal was said to be quarrelling with one Mallam, a resident of Alabar, when he (Kamal) allegedly rushed home and returned with the weapon and started firing shots into the air, the third of which hit Salao, who was standing elsewhere.
The people at the scene rushed Salao to the Accident and Emergency Center at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for treatment.
The case was then reported to the Zongo police who arrested Alhaji Kamal and caged him on Sunday. The police also seized the pump action gun from him but it was not clear whether it was registered or not.
Alhaji Kamal is also the NDC treasurer of Manhyia South Constituency, and residents in the area alleged that he is fond of boasting about his party�s political power.
Sources at the scene informed DAILY GUIDE that Alhaji Kamal, who is also the ex-assemblyman of Afia Kobi Electoral Area, is seriously campaigning nowadays with the hope of being re-elected.
As part of his campaign strategy, he reportedly started fumigating all gutters in the electoral area on Sunday, perhaps a last-minute strategy to woo the voters.
Mallam, a resident of the area, was said to have prevented Alhaji Kamal and his group from fumigating a gutter in front of his house, arguing that the choked gutters should rather be desilted.
Mallam�s action was said to have infuriated Alhaji Kamal, who in a real display of political power, allegedly sped home with his car and returned minutes later with a pump action gun which he fired indiscriminately into the air.
Fear-stricken neighbours then to took to their heels to save their lives, but Salao was hit in the process.
As at press time on Monday, DAILY GUIDE gathered that scores of top NDC members in the city had jammed the premises of the Zongo Police Station, with the hope of securing bail for the beleaguered parliamentary candidate.
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