UP: Constable, who is co-accused in Azam Khan land grab cases, held

SHO, Rampur Kotwali, Ravindra Pratap Singh said the arrest was made on the basis of a tip-off. “A warrant was issued against Chauhan in May. He had been absent from duty since then,” said Singh.

Chauhan is accused in a total of 12 cases filed at Kotwali police station in Rampur. He is also an accused in a case where Waqf land was allegedly usurped by Azam and his aides.

The case was registered after Azam and his associates, including then Circle Officer Aaley Hasan and Azam’s PRO Fasahat Shanuand Chauhan, allegedly forced people living in the Yateemkhana basti in 2016 vacate the area.

In their complaints, residents of the basti have alleged that on October 15, 2016, they were “forcibly made to vacate their houses because Khan wanted to construct a school there”. The complainants also alleged that men looted their belongings while forcing them to vacate the houses, which they claim were allotted to them by the Waqf Board.

A statement issued by the Rampur police said that in August, a notice had been pasted at the house Chauhan in Rampur after he had been absconding since May.

In the statement, the police also claimed that they recovered articles belonging to residents of Yateemkhana basti from the possession of Chauhan after his arrest in Shahjahanpur.

Police said old notes of Rs 500, two gold earrings, a CD player, one old note of Rs 1,000, one gold chain and two silver anklets were recovered from Chauhan. Azam, his MP wife Tanzeen Fatima and son Abdullah Khan are presently lodged at Sitapur jail. The former minister is facing at least 80 cases in Rampur.