Rampur (UP), Mar 18: Former Cabinet Minister in Uttar Pradesh government and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohammad Azam Khan was sentenced on Monday to 7 years imprisonment along with a total fine of Rs 8 lakh by an MP-MLA court in eight-year-old Dungarpur case, prosecution sources said.

Prosecution sources said that three co-accused, including former Circle Officer (CO) Ale Hassan Khan, former chairman of Nagar Palika Parishad Azhar Ahmad Khan, and contractor Barkat Ali, were sentenced to 5 years imprisonment along with a penalty of Rs 2 lakh each. It may be noted that the MP-MLA court of Additional Sessions Judge Vijay Kumar held Azam and three other accused guilty on March 16.

Special Prosecution Officer (SPO) Amarnath Tiwari said that Azam has been sentenced to 7 years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5 lakh under section 452 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), two years imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for causing loss (427), two years imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for criminal intimidation (506), and one year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1 lakh for intentional insult (504) of the IPC.

He said that all the sentences will run concurrently, and the time spent in jail will be adjusted.

Azam, who is currently lodged in Sitapur jail, appeared before the court through video conferencing. It may be noted that this is the fifth case in which Azam has been convicted by the court.

Prosecution sources said that during the SP government, Aasra houses were constructed in Dungarpur. “It was alleged that a few houses already existed in the area, which were demolished in 2016. It was claimed that those houses were built on government land. In 2019, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power, around one dozen cases were lodged at Ganj police station,” they said.

Prosecution sources said that it was alleged that, at the behest of Azam Khan, the police and SP workers had forcibly vacated their houses to build Aasra houses. “Azam’s name was included in the case during the investigation,” they said.

UNI