SP MLA, brother, 3 others get 7-year jail term in 2022 land grabbing case
Irfan Solanki was elected from Sishamau
3 min read
Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki (File Photo) A court on Friday sentenced Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki, his younger brother Rizwan Solanki, and three others to seven years imprisonment for allegedly harassing a woman and setting her house on fire in an attempt to grab her land in the Jajmau area of Kanpur in 2022.
This is the first conviction of Solanki (45), a four-time legislator from the Sishamau constituency in Kanpur district, who has been booked in eight cases, including charges under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters Act and that of forgery, in the past two years.
In light of Friday’s sentence, Solanki, who won from Sishamau on Samajwadi Party ticket, now faces the prospect of losing his membership in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The others awarded the sentence in the case are Shaukat Ali, a builder, Israel Attewala, and Mohammad Shareef.
The court had Monday held the five guilty in the case. The court held the five guilty under Sections 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent destroy house, etc), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 147 (rioting), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, the prosecution said.
“The court sentenced all five persons… to seven years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30,500 on each,” said government counsel Bhaskar Mishra.
Irfan’s counsel Gaurav Dixit said that they would file an appeal against the court’s judgment. The trial of two other accused — Ajjan and Mursaleen Khan alias Bholu — is still pending in the court as their chargesheets were filed separately, Dixit said. Heavy security was in place in and around the court premises on Friday to prevent any untoward incident.
Nazeer Fatima lodged a complaint on November 8, 2022, accusing Irfan and Rizwan of regularly harassing her and threatening to kill her family in an attempt to grab her house located in the Defence Colony area of the city.
The woman alleged that on October 7, 2022, Irfan, Rizwan, and their associates set her house on fire while she and her family were not present in the house.
Irfan is currently lodged in the Maharajganj district jail, while the other convicts are in a Kanpur jail.
You May Like
Photos
