OpIndia’s exclusive ground report from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh has exposed how land belonging to the state and its institutions were encroached and grabbed by the Islamist footmen of Samajwadi Party (SP). The police on 1st April filed an FIR against former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi and others pertaining to land grabbing under the previous SP government led by Akhilesh Yadav. The said land and building belongs to a police station in Balrampur where an illegal mazar was constructed.
Barracks for police constables were meant to be built inside this structure where a mazar exists now. Hashmi’s brother named Maroof has also been arrested in the case. OpIndia has learnt that more than two dozen cases have already been filed against the accused former SP MLA Arif Anwar and his colleagues.
Akhilesh’s MLA intimidated police under SP rule
The case is related to the Sadullahnagar police station in Balrampur district. A complaint was filed on 1st April by accountant Sunil Kumar. He claimed that in 2013, the then-Samajwadi Party MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi conspired to fraudulently take over the land registered in the name of the police station.
Hashmi used his influence to harass and threaten the police station and other administrative authorities. A mazar was constructed on the police station premises. It was named ‘Mazar Sharif Shaheed-e-Millat Abdul Quddus Shah Rahmatullah Alaih’.
Islamic tomb built in place of soldiers’ barracks
A committee was constituted hastily to build the mazar and Maroof was named as its head. Hashmi then had the government land for the police station registered in the name of Mazar Sharif Baba Shaheed-e-Millat. According to the complainant, police barracks were to be built here to strengthen law and order. This was done to reportedly instill fear in the minds of the people and rip apart the social fabric in Balrampur.
They planned to confiscate the lands of the deprived as well
The complainant has identified former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi as a declared land mafia. It is reportedly alleged that the police station land was grabbed to construct the tomb by Hashmi in order to hold authority over the poor andgrab their land.
The complainant further alleged that cases were already filed against Arif and other members of his family. The accused is expected to face severe consequences, according to the lawsuit. OpIndia has a copy of the FIR.
The police have filed an FIR against former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi, his brother Maroof Anwar, some other unknown people from Arif’s family, and unidentified members of the tomb committee.
All accused have been charged under sections 420, 468, 120-B, 186, and 434 of the IPC, as well as section 3/4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act of 1984. On 2nd March, the police conducted a raid, arrested Maroof and imprisoned him. The search for the second accused identified in the FIR is underway.
Many tactics were adopted to disguise lies as truth
According to the evidence gathered by OpIndia, the accused made every attempt to keep the entire situation embroiled in legal proceedings. Mutawwali Maroof from the mazar filed complaints against the police in both, the District Court and the High Court. He did the best to prove the police and district administration incorrect. Finally, on 18th December 2023, the High Court directed SDM Utraula to decide the case within three months.
SDM Utraula gave his order on the 19th of March. Following an examination of the papers, all of the mazar committee’s claims were deemed untrue. Finally, an FIR was filed against the accused, who fraudulently seized the police station land in the mazar’s name. The main accused in the case, former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi, is one of Akhilesh Yadav’s close associates.
Urs celebrations inside police station, maulvis invited
‘Urs’ (a form of Islamic gathering) was being organized inside the police station where the tomb was built 10 years ago. Maulvis would frequent the place from all over. Crowds of pilgrims gathered here. People were also promised that their sorrows and pains would be alleviated by exorcism. An attempt was also made to broaden the extent of the tomb by making it concrete. However, now an official police complaint has been filed.