SP leader Azam Khan declared 'land mafia'

Facing dozens of cases of land grabbing in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur town, about 325 kilometres from here, firebrand Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and party Lok Sabha member Azam Khan was on Thursday declared a ''land mafia''.

The district administration in Rampur has included the name of Azam Khan in the list of people, who have found mention on the anti-land mafia portal. The portal has names of people, who grab lands and never vacates it.

Azam, who was the chancellor of Mohammed Ali Jauhar University at Rampur, was accused of grabbing lands of several local farmers. As many as 13 cases of land grabbing were registered against Azam in the past one week only.

More than 25 local farmers had complained to the district magistrate alleging that their lands had been ''forcibly'' taken over by Azam for construction of the University building during the previous SP regime.

They also alleged that they were threatened by the then circle officer (CO) Ale Hasan Khan, who was at present, the security officer of the Varsity when they protested. The former CO has also been declared a ''land mafia''.

A probe had been ordered after the BJP formed its government in the state after assembly polls in 2017. Officials claimed that they detected large scale irregularities in the alleged purchase of land for the Varsity.

According to the sources in the police, Azam Khan and the ex-CO could be arrested in the next few days on charges of land grabbing.