RAMPUR/LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan stepped out of the Sitapur jail on Friday after spending over 26 months in judicial custody, a day after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a cheating case. Later, after reaching home in Rampur, as thousands of supporters gathered outside his house to welcome him, Azam said, “It’s no less than a wonder that I am standing alive before you people”.
He said, “I was kept in British-era cells. Near the prison where I was held, there was a gallow where inmates were hanged earlier... Generations will remember my persecution”.
At the jail gate, Azam was met by his sons Abdullah and Adeeb, apart from two sitting SP MLAs Ashu Malik and Mohd Faheem. SP president Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter to welcome him. Azam’s motorcade then headed for the residence of former SP MLA Anup Gupta. Half an hour later, he started for Rampur by road.
Azam said: “I was an ordinary inmate, kept alone and given chapatis with water. My health is not good. Whatever happened to me in jail shows on my body now. The present government, or a particular section, has deep aversion towards me. I am thankful to the SC for delivering justice.”
