Days after release from jail, veteran SP leader Azam Khan's security restored

Lucknow (UP), Oct 13 (PTI) Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan's security cover has been restored after his release from Sitapur jail on September 23.

"His (Khan's) security cover has been restored," a senior police officer told PTI on Monday, though the grade of his security cover remains unclear.

"There are various categories of security covers that are extended to a person based on threat assessment. In this case, Khan was already a Y security cover protectee before being jailed. Now that he has been released on bail, the same security has been restored," the officer said requesting anonymity.

There are two levels of Y security – Y and its slightly higher version Y +. Both reserved for protectees with moderate security risk and comprising around 8 security personnel in Y category and a couple more in Y +, another police officer said.

"As of now he has 5 constables and 3 gunners guarding him, which would indicate Y cover," a police official in Rampur said.

Khan, who is a founding member of the Samajwadi Party, was released on bail after 23 months in jail on September 23.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who visited him in Rampur on October 8, a day before Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati's Lucknow rally, praised Khan describing the cases registered against the veteran as "fake".

Yadav claimed that all such cases would be withdrawn if SP comes to power in Uttar Pradesh in the 2027 state polls.

After his release, Khan, dressed in his trademark white kurta-pyjama and black waistcoat paired with tinted sunglasses, arrived in Rampur to a warm welcome and praised those "who prayed for him".

"I thank all those who prayed for me," the 77-year-old former MP, who had served as an MLA for a record 10 times, said while dismissing speculations about his joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

"Ask those who are making such claims," he had said, though barely a day after meeting SP chief, he had praised Mayawati, taking many by surprise.

Facing multiple cases filed against him since 2017, Khan's release came days after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail in the Quality Bar land encroachment case in Rampur district.

The case pertained to the alleged illegal occupation of the bar premises, with Khan's name added during reinvestigation nearly five years after the FIR was lodged. PTI NAV MAN OZ OZ