Salman ImtiyazThe Congress candidate from Aligarh, Salman Imtiyaz, has been barred from staying in the district for the next six months.
The police pasted an externment order against Imtiyaz, a resident of Aligarh, on Friday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the coming state assembly polls.
The order has been issued under the U.P. Control Of Goondas Act, 1970, and authorities said it was based on police action against Salman in five cases all of which are related to his role in the anti-CAA/NRC protests in 2019.
Charges against Salman include promoting enmity between two groups under Section 153-A of the IPC.
Imtiyaz, who is contesting an election for the first time, has alleged the local administration and the police are trying to force him to withdraw his candidature. Reacting to the ban, he said: “I am giving a tight fight in the election. A conspiracy is there to harass me. The externment order came to our knowledge a day after I filed my nomination paper.”
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Imtiyaz said he will be moving the commissioner’s court to seek a stay on the ban. “I will not run away from Aligarh and will campaign in the area. If the police wants they may arrest me.”
The order banning Imtiyaz’s stay in Aligarh was issued on January 13.
“I am surprised… police pasted the order a week after the court passed it. Interestingly, despite having the externment order in their possession, they took no action against me on January 20 when I went to the collectorate to file my nomination paper,” Imtiyaz said. “Had they informed me about the externment order earlier, I would have never filed nomination paper.”
However, Circle Officer, Aligarh, Shwetabh Pandey denied allegations the order was withheld deliberately until Imtiyaz filed his nomination papers. “On receiving the order, a police team went to serve it. (But) Salman was not present so they pasted it at his residence in Kotwali area,” said Pandey. Another police officer said Imtiyaz will be arrested if he is found in the district.
Additional District Magistrate, Aligarh, Rakesh Kumar Patel also said the order was passed after following due court procedures.
Imtiyaz, a former president of the Aligarh Muslim University Students Association (AMUSU), was served a notice in March 2020.
“I appeared before the court on the respective date along with my lawyer. I filed my reply stating that police have no evidence against me in those cases, because, in many cases, I was even not present at the spot… Since then, I did not receive any notice from the court,” Imtiyaz said, adding he also told the court the police wanted to ruin his career by falsely implicating him.
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