SP's Neeraj Maurya (left) with party leader Akhilesh Yadav
Credit: X/@NeerajMauryaJBD
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh: Two people, including the Samajwadi Party candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Aonla seat, have been booked in a fraud and forgery case here, police said on Monday.
They said the FIR was registered at the Kotwali police station on Sunday following a complaint filed by Abid Ali, the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from the same Lok Sabha seat.
Satyaveer Singh, a resident of Shahjahanpur who had filed unauthorised nomination from the Aonla seat claiming to be a BSP candidate, and SP nominee Neeraj Maurya have been booked under various sections of fraud and forgery, Police Circle Officer (CO) Pankaj Srivastava said.
The BSP had announced Ali's candidacy for the Aonla seat and he duly filed his nomination. Later, Singh also filed his nomination for the same seat claiming to be a BSP candidate. When this matter was investigated on April 20, the Election Commission raised an objection to the BSP's dual nominations for the same seat.
According to a senior district official, Ali's nomination was close to being cancelled but after the BSP declared him as the party’s authorised candidate, Singh's nomination was cancelled by the EC.
The BSP leader has alleged in his complaint that this entire conspiracy was hatched by SP's Maurya, the police said.
Meanwhile, SP District President Shiv Charan Kashyap termed the FIR registered against Maurya as fake. He said they have been assured by the SSP that no wrong action would be taken in this matter.
Maurya said that he has nothing to do with Singh and it's a matter for the BSP to investigate.
The SP candidate from Aonla said the opponents are frustrated and troubled by his increasing popularity in the area and, hence, the FIR has been filed against him to harass him.
He said he has full confidence in the police investigation.
CO Srivastava said more actions will be taken based on further investigations into the matter.