In pre-dawn op, Azam Khan, kin taken to Sitapur jail

LUCKNOW: In a pre-dawn exercise on Thursday, Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan was shifted to Sitapur prison along with his legislator wife and son. Khan had surrendered in a Rampur court on Wednesday in a forgery case.
“Azam Khan, his wife Tazeen Fatima and son Abdullah were moved out of Rampur jail at 4.30am on Thursday amid tight security and taken to Sitapur jail by road,” said Sitapur superintendent of police L R Kumar.
The decision to shift the Khan family from Rampur, its home turf, was taken amid intelligence inputs that the MP’s supporters were planning massive protests against the arrest of their leader and his kin. Initially, the plan was to shift them to Bareilly jail, but later the government decided on Sitapur prison.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav rushed to Sitapur early Thursday to visit the MP. Accusing BJP of vendetta politics, Akhilesh said: “He (Khan) is being implicated in false cases ever since BJP came to power. Azam sahib expressed faith in law which will help him in coming days.”
Earlier, Anand Kumar, DG, prisons administration and reforms, told TOI that the Rampur jail superintendent had sent a report to the government on Wednesday citing security concerns for the Khan family and also law and order situation around jail premises since Khan wields considerable influence in Rampur.
“In the wake of such circumstances, it was deemed fit to transfer Azam Khan and his kin to another jail and the government decided on Sitapur jail,” the DG said. He said security both inside and outside Sitapur jail has been strengthened and vigil being maintained in coordination with Sitapur administration.
Sitapur jail officials told TOI that the Khan family was taken inside the prison, which is about 275 km from Rampur jail, at 10.15am. Azam and Abdullah, whose membership of the UP assembly was cancelled on Thursday, have been lodged in the same cell while Tazeen has been lodged in the women’s cell. A jail official said Abdullah has an injury in the left finger while Tazeen suffers from acute diabetes.
The trio has been jailed for forging the birth certificate of Abdullah, who allegedly mentioned the wrong date of birth while filing his nomination for the UP assembly election in 2017. Abdullah was elected MLA from Rampur. However, his election was set aside by Allahabad High Court in December last year. On Thursday, the UP assembly notified that his election was null and void.
It was an FIR lodged in Rampur’s Ganj police station by a local BJP leader, Akash Saxena, which nailed the SP stalwart and his family. According to the FIR, a copy of which is with TOI, Abdullah had two birth certificates with different dates. The first was issued by Rampur Municipal Corporation on June 28, 2012, bearing the registration number RNPB 2012-03857. According to an affidavit submitted by Abdullah’s father and mother, his place of birth has been recorded as Rampur. However, the second birth certificate bearing number NNLKO-B-2015-292611 was issued by Lucknow Municipal Corporation on January 21, 2015, where Abdullah’s place of birth has been shown as Lucknow.
The FIR further states that the first document was used for Abdullah’s passport while the second was used for affiliation and registration of Mohammed Ali Jauhar University, where he’s chief executive officer.