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‘SP MLA involved in arson, enough evidence against him’
Irfan Solanki, who has 11 criminal cases against him, and his brother, a listed land Mafioso from Unnao with four criminal cases, planned and executed the arson, joint commissioner of police, Anand Prakash Tiwari, told newspersons.
Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki and his brother were directly involved in setting the house of a widow on fire on November 3 and there is clinching evidence against them and others, claimed the police on Saturday.
Irfan Solanki, who has 11 criminal cases against him, and his brother, a listed land Mafioso from Unnao with four criminal cases, planned and executed the arson, joint commissioner of police, Anand Prakash Tiwari, told newspersons.
“We have independent witnesses, backed by technical and forensic evidence to corroborate their presence at the site and direct involvement in the crime. Our investigation is 80% complete and the police will submit the chargesheet in court by the month-end,” he said.
On Saturday, Solanki’s supporters released his video statement recorded prior to his surrender on Friday in which he claimed the charges were trumped up and a CBI investigation should be ordered to get to the truth.
His lawyer Naresh Chandra Tripathi said the police have not been able to present any evidence and the court has fixed December 9 for hearing on their regular bail. “We hope we will secure bail from the court of the district judge,” he said.
In the Jajmau case, commissioner Tiwari said that contrary to claims of the MLA that the fire was caused by firecrackers, a forensics examination of the site confirmed an inflammable substance was used. “We have seized the container in which the substance was kept; second, independent witnesses and technical evidence place both the brothers at the scene of the crime,” he said. The MLA was part of conspiracy and facilitator in this case, he added.
The MLA, on his part, claimed that he was at his office on Rizvi Road, some seven km away, when the arson was reported in the video statement.
The police said it had secured the CCTV footage from airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, statements of personnel of Central Industrial Security Force, Airports Authority of India and crew of Indigo Airlines, a flight of which the MLA took to travel Mumbai on a forged Aadhar and under the identity of Ashraf Ali.
“He is identified by the crew travelling on a seat booked in the name of Ashraf Ali. Police have footage that show him entering the airport and exiting from the airport after the flight landed,” he said. The investigation in the second case was near completion and the chargesheet would be submitted by the month end.
The police have formed a committee to investigate 13 complaints, mostly related to land-grabbing, which people filed with the police against the MLA and his brother.
ACP Swarup Nagar, Mrigank Shekhar, is heading the committee. Tiwari said “ the police are working in an unbiased manner and will proceed in these complaints if there is merit and substance,” he said.
“People have a tendency of making an accusation, the police are aware of this fact and will decide the complaints on merit.”
