Apprehending arrest, Samajwadi Party MP from Rampur, Mohammad Azam Khan, has moved the court for anticipatory bail following a battery of 64 cases being filed against him by the UP Police over the last three months.
Of these, 28 cases have been registered against the Rampur MP in the last one month.
Incidentally, Azam Khan, who has described the Yogi Adityanath government’s action against him as vendetta, is likely to be among the first few beneficiaries of the anticipatory bail provision revived by the present Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Official sources said that all the 64 cases were of serious nature and many more people were expected to “gather courage and come forward to complain against the MP”.
So far 27 farmers have lodged reports, alleging that their land was forcibly grabbed by Azam Khan.
Besides, there are 13 cases related to election code violations, threats to officials and communal speeches delivered by him during polls. Chargesheets have been filed by the police in all these 13 cases.
Azam Khan is also accused of grabbing the property classified in Enemy Property Act.
Sources said Khan’s arrest for his interrogation was imminent, especially as the Enforcement Directorate has also filed a case against him and he has been enlisted as an organised land-grabber (bhu-mafia) by the state government on July 12.
“I am paying the price for winning the Lok Sabha election from Rampur by defeating the BJP candidate. A political vendetta has been launched against me by the Yogi government,” Khan said in Rampur on Monday.
Samajwadi Party has already announced a state-wide agitation if the UP government arrests Khan.
Azam Khan has accused the district magistrate and senior superintendent of police of Rampur of pursuing the BJP agenda against him since being posted in the district in February and June, respectively.
Besides the land-grabbing charge, Madarasa Aliya has also alleged that over 9,000 books and manuscripts were stolen from its library and shifted to the Jauhar University, a private university owned by Azam Khan.
Over 2000 of these books were recovered from Jauhar University recently.
