Police on Friday asserted that strict action would be taken on the land grab cases including a few registered against Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan.
"Complaints have been registered against Azam Khan of Samajwadi Party, former Circle Officer Ale Hasan and former Inspector Kushalveer Singh," Superintendent of Police of Rampur Ajay Pal Singh said.
"23 FIRs have been registered relating to the land grab cases. According to the complaints, the farmers' land has been grabbed through unscrupulous means. A former Circle Officer (CO) Ale Hasan has used threats to grab farmers' land here," he added.
The SP claimed that the complaints have been verified and found to be genuine.
"The complaints were verified by the revenue officer. These were found to be true. We will definitely act upon the complains and make arrests according to the relevant sections. For proper inspection, a three-member committee has been formed in which the Inspector is the Investigation Officer (IO)," he said.
Reacting to the allegations, Azam Khan said: "Since I won the election against BJP, I am being punished. All allegations are false. They can investigate if they want to. There are enemies all around me."
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government put Khan's name on government's anti-land mafia portal.
"Since Azam Khan has 2 cases and around 13 FIRs lodged against him his name has been put up on government's anti-land mafia portal; a retired circle officer Ale Hasan's name is also included. It means the cases will be directly monitored by the government and legal action will be taken," said Rampur District Magistrate Aunjaneya Kumar.
( With inputs from ANI )