'Inspector in jail warned me of encounter,' says Azam Khan

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Monday alleged that a police officer told him to "go underground, you have several cases against you, you can get encountered."

Rampur (Uttar Pradesh): Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Monday alleged that a police officer had cautioned him in Sitapur Jail to "stay underground" once he goes outside or else there may be a threat to his life. Khan was released from Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur jail on May 20 after 27 months of being imprisoned since the Supreme Court granted him an interim bail in a land-grabbing case.

Addressing the media, Azam Khan said, "I didn't give my 40 years to get gold and silver bracelets, nor do I have any bungalow. When the ED came for 5 days in jail for my interrogation, they asked me about my properties abroad and bank accounts. I just told them that I am not angry with them over the questions, but rather felt ashamed of where I was born?"

On being asked about leadership, Khan said, "I have never been a leader. Had I been a leader, many things would not have been possible. I would not have built a university or a school for children. You should know that Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, of which I am the chairman and the chancellor of the university, is a non-beneficiary organization."

The Supreme Court on Tuesday had agreed to hear this week a plea filed by Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan against the impending threat of demolition of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University as part of the condition of his bail. On May 10, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to the Samajwadi Party leader in a case related to wrongful possession of Waqf Board property.

The Allahabad High Court had imposed various conditions including directions to the District Magistrate, Rampur being a representative of Custodian/Administrator of Evacuee/Enemy Property, to hold a measurement of the landed property in dispute which is the centre dispute of this issue admeasuring area of 13.842 hectares village Singhan Khera, Pargana and Tehsil-Sadar, District Rampur and thereafter, raise a boundary wall and barbed wire around it to take the actual physical possession of the property in dispute on behalf of the administrator of evacuee property Mumbai latest by June 30, 2022.