Azam Khan says no Y category security cover out of money crunch

Samajwadi Party heavyweight Azam Khan has refused security cover provided to him by the government, saying he is unable to afford it.

Khan’s Y category security, which he had before his arrest, was restored soon after his release on bail on September 23, after 23 months in jail.

His security cover comprised eight police personnel.

“We aren’t saying no to security. My father has simply said that he won’t be able to bear the cost incurred on maintaining and ferrying those security personnel provided to him,” Azam’s son, Abdullah Azam, a former MLA, said on Tuesday.

The former UP minister was provided with five police constables and three gunners or personal security officers who were to guard him everywhere he went.

“Earlier, he had an escort and security personnel who moved in a vehicle provided by the government. Now, since that facility is missing, our family’s precarious financial condition doesn’t permit keeping security whose cost of movement and other things would have to be borne by us,” Abdullah said.

The 77-year-old mercurial leader has been an MLA for a record 10 terms and is currently battling several criminal cases and ill health.

He also said he got no intimation from the government about the restoration of his security cover.

“The point is, in the absence of any formal communication, how would anyone know the veracity of those guarding you?” Khan said, though he admitted the need for a security cover.

“Of course, security is extended on the basis of threat perception. And since it was provided means that there is a need,” he said.

Khan was released days after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail in the Quality Bar land encroachment case in Rampur district.

The case pertained to the alleged illegal occupation of the bar premises, with Khan’s name added during reinvestigation nearly five years after the FIR was lodged.