Shrikant Tyagi case: Swami Prasad Maurya sends ₹11.50 cr defamation notice to Noida Police chief

The Gautam Buddh Nagar police said it was yet to receive any such notice from Maurya. The police said they will respond only after studying the notice.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Saturday claimed to have sent a legal notice for defamation to the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police commissioner for linking him to politician Shrikant Tyagi, who was arrested for assaulting and abusing a woman in Noida.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya. (File)

Maurya has sought ₹11.50 crore as general and special compensation for loss of reputation and family honour, mental torture and physical agony, according to the copy of the notice shared by him on social media.

However, the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police said it was yet to receive any such notice from Maurya. The police said they will respond only after studying the notice.

“Regarding the Vidhan Sabha pass found in the Shrikant Tyagi case, the police commissioner of Gautam Buddh Nagar has acted irresponsibly and without investigating tried to tarnish my image, reputation and popularity in the whole country through the press. In this context, I have sent a legal notice for defamation,” Maurya tweeted in Hindi.

Confirming it to news agency PTI, Maurya's lawyer JS Kashyap the notice was sent on Friday and they were awaiting a response to it.

Soon after Tyagi's arrest on August 9, Gautam Buddh Nagar Police commissioner Alok Singh said the politician had an ‘MLA’ sticker on one of his vehicles which he said was given to him by his “old political colleague” Maurya. “We are verifying this information. His driver had painted the UP government emblem on the car number plate. The probe is underway under Gangster Act,” Singh had said.

The Samajwadi Party MLC and former minister in the Yogi government charged the ruling BJP with trying to trap the people of the country in a web of lies when it saw itself cornered over the Tyagi episode.

“The BJP is trying to trap the people in the web of its lies and dubiety...I have not been to UP Vidhan Sabha for months. Got no passes made in the last 7 to 8 months. I became an MLC on July 11 and no passes were made since then...I did not give any pass to Shrikant Tyagi...All this is a game of the BJP...The BJP intends to shift the blame on me for its mistake. Of course, I met him (Shrikant Tyagi) in 2017 when I was a BJP leader. Thereafter, he never met me,” he said.

Tyagi, who was on the run for four days, was arrested by the Noida police in connection with assaulting and abusing a woman at Grand Omaxe Society in Noida.

(With inputs from PTI)