UP at Azam Khan's call: Policemen suspended for delay in finding minister's buffaloes

NEW DELHI: In an escalating political drama, BJP slammed UP minister Azam Khan for 'misusing' police to find his missing buffaloes. "Azam Khan's buffaloes were found immediately, why can't police act swiftly in other cases?" questioned BJP.

Siddharth Nath Singh of BJP said, "When Azam Khan's buffaloes are stolen arrests are made, action is taken, but when riots happen in UP no action is taken."

The police on Sunday traced the seven buffaloes which were stolen from the farmhouse of senior minister Azam Khan in Rampur. This, however, could not save the three local policemen who were on night patrol when the incident took place. They were stripped of their post and sent back to the police lines. A harsher punishment is expected after a probe in the days to come.

Samajwadi Party leader and UP Tourism Minister Om Prakash Singh defended the decision to suspend the cops by saying, "We are in power, we know whom to suspend or promote."

The stolen buffaloes were recovered following a night-long operation where five police teams raided dozens of diaries, slaughter houses and meat factories in and around Rampur. Ten people have been detained in connection with the theft.

SP Rampur Sadhna Goswami, along with ASP Devesh Pandey and DSP Aley Hasan, headed separate teams that included cops from six police stations and investigators from the district police's crime cell as well. The cops went through hours of CCTV footage at the meat factories to verify the entry of livestock into the premises.

Three of the missing buffaloes were traced in Ganj police circle, two each were traced to Swal and Shehzadnagar police circles of Rampur city. SP Rampur confirmed the recovery of the buffaloes but refused to divulge more details.

By evening five were identified as ones that were stolen while the cops were unsure about the remaining two. "The person who looked after animals can identify," said a police officer.