Jailed SP MLA Irfan Solanki issued certificates to Bangladeshi family

Kanpur (UP): Jailed Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki has been booked in a case related to issuing certificates to a Bangladeshi family which were used to obtain Indian documents, including Aadhaar, police said on Tuesday.

Solanki has been in prison since November 8 when he surrendered after being booked for rioting and arson in a land dispute case. The MLA is also accused of using a fake Aadhaar.

On December 11, four members of the Bangladeshi family living illegally in Kanpur were arrested for allegedly carrying fake documents, while a juvenile was apprehended. The police seized 13 fake passports, five Aadhaar cards, education certificates, foreign currency, gold ornaments and more than Rs 14 lakh cash from them.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Anand Prakash Tiwari said police investigation confirmed that the jailed MLA had issued certificates to the family which were used to obtain the Indian documents.

Solanki's signature matched with those on the certificates issued to the family, the officer added.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who visited the MLA in prison on Monday, said Solanki was innocent and has been falsely implicated in criminal cases.

He alleged that the police registered false cases against Solanki to keep him behind bars and also made a fake Aadhaar card to implicate him in yet another case.

Yadav even defended the MLA's decision to be on the run, claiming if he had not fled from Kanpur, the police would have done what it did with Balwant Singh, who died in police custody, and Vikas Dubey, who was killed in an encounter.

Soon after the SP chief left the city on Monday, police officials told media persons that Solanki has been accused in the case related to the Bangladeshi family's arrest.