Case against BJP MP Sanjeev Baliyan for calling Azam Khan 'terrorist'

Rampur, Dec 24: A case has been registered against BJP MP and Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan for allegedly calling senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan a "terrorist", police said on Wednesday.

"A case has been registered against the Union Minister of State Sanjeev Baliyan," Circle Officer Aley Hassan said.

SP party lodged a complaint yesterday at Gunj police station against Baliyan stating that the minister's speech has created tensions to communal harmony and peace.

Khan and Baliyan were locked in war of words on December 21, with both accusing each other of indulging in communal politics.

Hitting back at Khan, Baliyan said that "Azam Khan is an assassin, an absconder and a terrorist" at a press conference near Khalsa village about 60 kms from Rampur.

He also said that as a very responsible minister in the state Cabinet, Khan should not make statements like the one he made on Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday that it was funded by Taliban and Dawood Ibrahim.

Baliyan alleged that "Azam Khan is responsible for communal riots in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar."

SP supporters on Monday burnt effigies of Baliyan in Rampur.

"Sanjeev Balyan now shall not be allowed to enter Rampur and if he dared so, the SP workers would hinder his entry with full force," SP PRO Fasahat Ali said.

"Our leader Azam Khan would firmly and sternly oppose communal forces at all levels," he said.

PTI