Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 16 (ANI): The Allahabad High Court will hear a hate speech case about former Uttar Pradesh minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan on Friday.

Azam Khan is no stranger to controversies and legal cases. In March this year, Azam Khan and seven others were acquitted by an MP-MLA court here on Thursday in one of the cases related to the Dungarpur incident.

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Azam Khan's advocate, Nasir Sultan, said that Additional Session Judge Vivek Kumar of the MP-MLA court acquitted Azam and seven others for lack of evidence.

"Nearly one dozen FIRs were lodged against Azam and others in the year 2016 Dungarpur incident, in which houses were demolished for the implementation of the Asara scheme during the SP government. One of the cases was lodged by Shafeeq Bano in 2019 in which she claimed that she constructed a house on the land purchased in 2012," he said while speaking to the reporters.

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Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court will hear a petition filed by gangster Ashraf Ahmed's wife, Zainab, in addition to hearing a case related to former UP minister Azam Khan.

On April 15, 2024, gangster Ashraf Ahmed was shot dead along with his brother and mafia turned politician Atiq Ahmed by assailants while the duo were interacting with the media.

Ashraf Ahmed's wife Zainab Fatima, along with her sister in law Ayesha Noori, are key accused in the Umesh Pal murder case that took place in February 2023 in Prayagraj.

Umesh Pal, a key witness to the 2005 murder of the then BSP MLA Raju Pal, was killed on February 24 last year in a firing by one of Atiq's sons and henchmen in Prayagraj. Pal's two police guards were also killed on that day. Gangster Atiq Ahmed was the main accused in the murder of Umesh Pal. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)