patna

Updated: Jul 05, 2015 10:14 IST

A 22-year-old man arrested in Bhojpur on Saturday for stabbing former Bihar minister Ejaz-ul-Haq said he acted in self-defence after Haq tried to sexually assault him at knifepoint.



The computer technician told police he acted “out of desperation” after Haq tried to have “unnatural sex” with him at the former Bihar minister of state for welfare’s flat in Patna on Friday night. Apparently, Haq lost his balance and dropped a steel knife in his hand, with which the young man stabbed the former minister three times, Patna SSP Vikas Vaibhav said.



The attacker then escaped in the ex-minister's SUV, which had a gun in the glove compartment. He was tracked through his mobile phone details and arrested from Bhojpur district.



Haq, brother-in-law of jailed former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, denied the allegation. He told police three men entered his flat on Friday night and robbed him of cash, firearms and other articles, including his SUV.



Haq was admitted to a private hospital in Patna where his condition was said to be stable.



Police sources said investigations revealed a scuffle took place between the two men and added that the ex-minister could be booked if the sexual assault charge was established.



Haq was a prominent figure in state politics during the rule of Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi (1990-2005) and attracted notoriety nationally after being named by gangster Bhupendra Tyagi aka Awadhesh Tyagi as the supplier of weapons for use in an alleged plot to kill Tarun Tejpal, then editor of Tehelka magazine.

Haq now heads the state unit of the Samras Samaj Party, recently set up by former Union minister Nagmani. His brother-in-law Shahabuddin, a two-time MLA and four-time MP, was a feared figure in Bihar until his arrest in 2005.