During the heydays of the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, hooliganism had reached new heights in the state as the SP leaders wrongly thought that Uttar Pradesh is their personal fiefdom. The muck had started right from the top as Akhilesh Yadav led an ungraceful exit from his official bungalow by destroying things that were bought from public money. One such leader who regularly indulged in threatening people to have his way was senior SP leader Azam Khan. Former Rampur DM Anjaneya Kumar Singh who played a key role in tightening the noose around Azam Khan and was subsequently threatened by the latter is now promoted as the Commissioner of Muradabad.
Earlier this week, Anjaneya Kumar Singh promoted as Moradabad divisional commissioner from his current designation of Rampur district magistrate. The former Rampur DM was given quite a grand farewell as he was made to sit on a horse-driven buggy like a groom and a musical band followed him as he moved around the town.
The farewell was arranged by the district administration at Vikas Bhavan. The farewell ceremony saw the presence of the police department and officials from various other government departments.
“My team and I ensured the development and betterment of Rampur district. I hope the effort in this direction will continue in the future, too,” said Singh in his farewell speech.
Singh had gained prominence after he increased the pressure on Azam Khan, his family and aides who are accused in several cases of land grabbing and forgery during his stint as the Rampur DM.
Earlier in 2017, Azam Khan had threatened Singh for tightening the noose around him and his family. While addressing a public meeting back then, Khan said, “Don’t take enmity to such a level that after four years, you couldn’t find a place to hide.” Khan was perhaps enraged after Singh took action against his Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in the case of land grabbing in Rampur.
Moreover in 2019, when SP and BSP had allied for the general elections, Khan had threatened the then DM Singh, promising his supporters that he will make him clean Mayawati’s shoes if the alliance won the elections. He told his supporters, “You need not be afraid of the DM. I will make him clean Mayawati’s shoes after we win.”
After a complaint by a Rampur-based industrialist Akash Kumar Saxena, Singh was directed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to inquire into allegations that government land had been handed over to Azam Khan’s trust.
The subsequent inquiry had found that a road belonging to gram samaj land and a village road had been illegally transferred in 2012-13 to Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
It was a bit rich for Azam Khan to assume that the SP government would return to power in 2022. However, the Yogi Adityanath government is working at a breakneck speed to develop UP and free the state from the throngs of gangsters and criminals.