SP leader Azam Khan (file photo) Getty
Several cases are pending against senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. He is in jail. When he was the SP of Rampur, Ashok Shukla tried to save him in a case. This matter has reached Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. After the preliminary investigation, a departmental inquiry has been ordered against him. Ashok Shukla is currently the DIG of CBCID. Aligarh Commissioner Chaitra V and Vigilance Division IG Manzil Saini have been entrusted with the investigation.
In fact, the matter pertains to land under the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University campus registered in the name of Badruddin Qureshi’s son, Imamuddin Qureshi. Imamuddin Qureshi left India for Pakistan in 1947-48. The property was registered as enemy property under the Custodian Department of the Government of India in 2006.
Azam Khan’s name was removed from the charge sheet
On checking the records, it was found that the name of Afaq Ahmed was wrongly mentioned in the revenue records to destroy enemy property by falsifying the records of the revenue department. The pages of the records were found to be torn. When the fake entries came to light, a case was registered at the Civil Lines police station in 2020. During the investigation, in 2023, the investigating inspector Gajendra Tyagi included the name of Mohammad Azam Khan among the accused based on the statement of Halka Lekhpal.
However, the then Superintendent of Police, vide his order letter No. Reader SP-21/2023 dated 17-5-2023, removed the investigation from Gajendra Tyagi and transferred him to the Crime Branch and made Inspector Srikanth Dwivedi the Investigator. After this, not only was there laxity in the police investigation and in this case the sections of forged sections 467/471 were deleted and the clauses were relaxed. Apart from this, Azam Khan’s name was also removed from the charge sheet.
Several officials, including Ashok Shukla, are also under investigation.
The matter later came to light and the matter reached CM Yogi Adityanath. The drastic move comes after the role of then Rampur Superintendent of Police Ashok Shukla was suspected when the investigation was ordered to be changed suddenly to benefit Azam Khan and other accused.
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The seriousness of the government regarding the matter can also be gauged from the fact that after the change in interpretation, Azam Khan’s name was removed from the charge sheet and the serious clauses were reduced. The rank of Superintendent of Police I did not hesitate at all. And a high-level committee was formed to investigate.
The then SP Rampur Ashok Shukla and other police officers are also under the ambit of this investigation. Since the entire case is related to archival evidence, it will not be easy for the accused to escape from it.
