Rampur (UP): A delegation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs, MLAs and senior leaders met the District Magistrate of Rampur and submitted a memorandum alleging false and bogus cases against the party's national general secretary Mohammad Azam Khan and that action against him was taken out of malice.

In its memorandum, the SP delegation said that Azam Khan, his wife former MP Tazeen Fatima and their son Abdullah Azam were kept in jail for years and they were released after the intervention of the court.

It was stated that in the meantime Azam was given maximum punishment in a so-called fake hate speech case after which he was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly within hours and even his right to give a vote was also withdrawn.

On May 24 when Azam was acquitted by the MP-MLA court, the police forcibly picked his well-wishers and witnesses from their homes and locked them in the police station.

It was alleged that fearing the increasing base of SP, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is persecuting the senior party leaders by filing false and bogus cases in order to defame and humiliate them.

The delegation members demanded the DM to intervene immediately to stop the atrocities and illegal action being taken against Azam, his family members, and his supporters.

The SP delegation included SP MPs Shafiqur Rahman Burq, ST Hasan and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali, besides several MLAs and party official-bearers.

(With UNI inputs)