Days after forgery conviction Azam Khan, son shifted to different jails, says ‘might get killed in encounter’
The move comes four days after Azam, his wife Tanzeen Fatima, and Abdullah, a former MLA, were convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail in a 2019 case of alleged forgery of Abdullah’s birth certificate.
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Rampur: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan being shifted to Sitapur district jail from Rampur jail, in Rampur, early Sunday morning, Oct. 22, 2023. (PTI Photo) Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan were shifted to different jails in Uttar Pradesh from the district prison in Rampur amidst the former state cabinet minister expressing fear that they might be killed in an encounter.
The move comes four days after Azam, his wife Tanzeen Fatima, and Abdullah, a former MLA, were convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail in a 2019 case of alleged forgery of Abdullah’s birth certificate.
This is the fourth case in which Azam has been convicted in the past one year.
While Azam was transferred to the Sitapur district jail, Abdullah was taken to the district prison in Hardoi. Tanzeen will continue to be lodged in the Rampur jail.
Speaking to reporters while being shifted to Sitapur, Azam said, “Humara encounter bhi ho sakta hai. Kuch bhi ho sakta hai (We might be killed in an encounter. Anything can happen)”.
A senior police officer in Rampur said the decision to shift Azam and his former MLA son was taken by the state government. “The decision was taken keeping in mind the security of the inmates after gathering reports from the departments such as intelligence, prison, and police,” said the officer.
Director General of Prisons SN Sabat said Azam and his son were taken to the jails in separate vehicles with adequate security cover. The two stepped out of the Rampur jail at around 4:40 am and reached their destinations at around 9 am, another officer said.
Also, when police personnel asked Azam Khan to sit in the middle of the rear seat of the SUV in which he was being taken to Sitapur, the SP leader urged them to let him take the window seat. “I will not be able to sit in the middle,” Khan was heard telling the policemen citing back-related problems. On this, the police team obliged him. Khan was earlier lodged at the Sitapur jail for almost two years in multiple cases before being released in May 2022, after getting bail from the Supreme Court.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who has on multiple occasions said that Azam and his family are being targeted for being Muslim, tweeted on X in Hindi, “The vicious cycle of harassing and torturing Mr Azam Khan and his family is condemnable. To separate the family members is an old tactic of those in power and is not justified even on grounds of age. We stand with them in their struggle for justice and will continue to do so.”
— With PTI inputs
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