Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Md Azam Khan has landed in a controversy with a TV sting operation claiming he influenced the police to protect those who instigated the Muzaffarnagar riots.
A news channel had aired a sting operation on Tuesday which showed some police personnel naming Azam Khan as the one who intervened and asked the cops to release seven men involved in the initial violence in Muzaffarnagar. This allegedly led to further violence as people reacted to their release.
“The expose by a news channel about the riots in Muzaffarnagar is serious, sensitive and a matter of concern for democracy. It proves beyond doubt who is behind the riots. The SP Government was completely involved in the events and had a politically motivated, lopsided view of the whole issue,” said BJP spokesperson Sudanshu Trivedi.“Effective legal action should also be taken against those involved irrespective of their stature in the Government,” Trivedi said.
But Khan said that if he was found guilty as claimed by a sting operation he was ready for any punishment. “I will ask the channel to carry out its own investigation. If I am found guilty of trying to suppress information the channel should itself decide punishment and I will gladly accept that,” Khan said.
‘Never in my life I have supported the wrong cause and what was shown on the news channel was against my ideology,” he said and added: “The reporter seemed to have put my name in the mouth of the official while I had nothing to do with it.”Khan, also the in-charge of Muzaffarnagar district, shifted the blame on the officials saying it was their responsibility to deal with the spot situation.