Former UP minister Azam Khan convicted with 3 others in 2016 demolition case

Rampur (UP): Former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan along with three others was convicted by a special court here on Saturday in a case of a forced demolition of a house in 2016 in the Dungarpur area, officials said.

The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Monday, they said.

Advocate Rohtash Kumar Pandey from the prosecution side said Judge Vijay Kumar of MP-MLA Court of Rampur held Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, former Nagar Palika chairman Azhar Ahmed Khan and former circle officer Ale Hasan and Barkat Ali guilty.

Three other accused — Jibran, Farman and Omendra Chauhan — were acquitted by the court, Pandey said.

A total of seven people were booked in 2019 for the forced demolition of a house in 2016 under the Samajwadi Party government, he said.

The case was registered at the Ganj police station under the Indian Penal Code sections 447 (punishment for criminal trespass), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 395 (punishment for dacoity) and 412 (dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity), Pandey said.

The case was filed after the change of government in Uttar Pradesh, he added.

The four accused have been convicted for offences under Indian Penal Code sections 447, 427, 504, and 506, he said.

Azam Khan, 75, is currently serving a sentence in Sitapur jail in another criminal case.