Rampur (Uttar Pradesh): Samajwadi Party MP and former Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan has been declared a ''land mafia'' by the Yogi Adityanath government.
The Rampur district administration put Khan's name on the 'anti-land mafia' portal late on Thursday after 13 FIRs were lodged against him on land-grabbing charges. The name of Alay Hasan Khan, a former circle officer in Rampur was also put on the same list.
Both, Azam Khan and Alay Hasan had been named in the FIRs lodged by 26 local farmers, accusing them of forcibly acquiring their land for the Jauhar University during the Samajwadi regime in the state.
Rampur District Magistrate Aujaneya Kumar Singh confirmed that the two accused had been named as land mafia.
"As many as 26 farmers had claimed that Azam Khan and his close aide Alay Hasan Khan acquired their land for the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University through coercion," the district magistrate said.
Azam Khan, on the other hand, called it a conspiracy hatched by the Rampur District Magistrate to defame him and the prestigious Jauhar University.
"My name was put up on the portal just on the basis of FIRs without conducting any preliminary inquiries. Most of the FIRs were registered within hours and this shows how the law was misused for political vendetta," he said.
"Most of the complainants had already filed their apologies on affidavits before the courts also but now the administrative officials have lured them and fooled them to file an FIR against Azam Khan because he is very affluent and wealthy and they will get the handsome amount from him," he said.
Azam Khan further said: "I have full faith in the judiciary of my country and I will produce each and every evidence supporting my claims before the court. We have got sale deeds registered and payments were made through cheques," he added.
Meanwhile, SP MLAs said they will stage a protest demanding the state must withdraw the cases registered against Azam Khan and his family members in Rampur.
SP MLA from Moradabad Dehat constituency, Haji Iqram Qureshi, said: "All the SP MLAs will protest again, this time before the Speaker inside the Assembly on Friday."
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