KANPUR: The MP-MLA court of Kanpur Nagar on Friday sentenced Samajwadi Party MLA
Irfan Solanki
, his brother Rizwan Solanki and three others to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment in the 2022 Jajmau arson case, reports Anant Shekhar Misra. The four-time MLA from Sisamau in Kanpur district is set to lose his membership of Uttar Pradesh assembly. Solanki, who is currently lodged in Maharajganj district jail, won the 2022 assembly elections on the SP ticket.
Solanki, his brother Rizwan and three others – Shauqat, Sharif and Israel Attawala – were on June 3 held guilty in the case.
Presiding judge Satyendra Nath Tripathi held all the accused guilty of arson, voluntarily causing hurt and insulting someone intentionally to provoke them and also imposed a fine of Rs 30,500 on each of them.
So far, 17 cases have been registered against Irfan
Irfan and his brother Rizwan were arrested in December 2022 for harassing a woman and setting her house on fire in abid to grab her plot. They later surrendered before the police. Irfan and Rizwan, along with three others, were booked under the UP Gangsters and AntiSocial Activities (Prevention) Act.
The police had filed two chargesheets in this case—one against MLA Irfan and his brother and the other against Shaukat, Sharif and Israel Attawala. The prosecution presented 18 witnesses, whereas the defence called upon three witnesses during the trial. So far, 17 cases have been registered against Irfan. He was also deprived of voting in recently held Rajya Sabha elections. The court had rejected Irfan's application to cast his vote.
According to ED sources, PMLA investigation was also initiated against Irfan and his associates considering the various FIRs related to extortion, land grabbing of both private and govt land, including Nazul property, by threat, muscle power and political influence, and making illegal construction and sale of the same. Irfan was also allegedly involved in aiding illegal Bangladeshi migrants to settle in India by procuring Aadhaar Card on the basis of false documents.
It is also alleged that illegal money earned was used to fund Kanpur Riots of 2022 by Haji Wasi. Officials said that the PMLA investigation has revealed prima facie that during his period as MLA from 2016 to 2022, his assets increased 282% with no corresponding increase in income. Solanki is the sixth MLA from UP to lose membership since 2022.
Before him, twotime BJP MLA from Mahasi seat in Bahraich district, Sureshwar Singh, was sentenced on Jan 5 to two years’ imprisonment for threatening a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) 20 years ago. In December 2023, BJP MLA from Duddhi, Ramdular Gond, was given 25 years RI for raping a minor girl. In Feb 2023, Abdullah Azam,
SP MLA
from Suar, was disqualified after a Moradabad court jailed him for two years in a 15-year-old criminal case. In Nov 2022, Vikram Saini, BJP MLA from Khatauli, was sentenced to twoyear imprisonment for his alleged role in 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. In Oct 2022, Azam Khan, SP MLA from Rampur, was disqualified after being given three years in prison in a 2019 hate speech case.
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SP MLA Solanki, brother held guilty in 2022 arson case
MP-MLA court in Kanpur held SP MLA Irfan and Rizwan Solanki guilty in the 2022 Jajmau arson case. Verdict reserved for months by Judge Satyendra Tripathi. The sentence will be given on June 7. Irfan, a four-time MLA from Sisamau in Kanpur, is currently lodged in Maharajganj district jail after being arrested in December 2022 for harassing a woman.
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