Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Azam Khan was on Monday sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in connection with a case of trespass and vandalism in a house in Rampur in 2016.
This is the fifth case in which Khan, who is already in jail, has been convicted in the last two years.
Along with Azam, three others, retired deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Aaley Hasan, contractor Barkat Ali, and one Azhar Ali were found guilty by the MP-MLA court in Rampur.
The court handed them five-year sentences. Another three accused in the case, Zibran, Farman and Omendra Chauhan were acquitted by the court.
Azam and the three others have been held guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 427 (mischief causing damage), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Government counsel, Amit Saxena, said that a fine of Rs 8 lakh has also been imposed on Azam. His three aides will have to pay a fine of Rs 3.5 lakh each, he said.
Azam’s lawyer Nasin Sultan said they would file an appeal against the conviction.
Saxena further said that a series of incidents in 2019 prompted the registration of 12 cases for the eviction of Dungarpur colony residents in the Ganj police station area of Rampur.
Among these cases, one involved Basti resident Ehtesham Khan, who owned a small coaching centre. He accused Azam and several others of breaking into his house and committing various offences including that of robbery and receiving stolen property.
However, during trial the charges of robbery and receiving stolen property could not be proved and were dropped.
He also alleged that the accused also took away Rs 25,000 in cash and a cellphone from the house. He also said that the accused had told him that this was being done to his family for not voting for Azam.
Rampur MP-MLA sessions court Judge Vijay Kumar completed the hearing on March 4 and pronounced the judgment.
Since 2017, 81 cases have been registered against Azam in Rampur on various charges, including land-grabbing, cheating and criminal trespass. His wife and son were also booked in some cases. ED has also booked Azam and his family in a PMLA case.
