Amid drum beats, police in Kairana proclaim absconding SP MLA an ‘outlaw’ on loudspeakers

MEERUT: The afternoon monotony in docile Kairana town was broken by drum beats on Sunday, followed by cops informing local residents on a loudspeaker about cases and warrant against local Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan who is on the run.
“Anyone can alert us about possible presence of the accused Nahid Hasan. The informer’s name will be kept confidential,” an inspector read the last line of the elaborate note in a gruff voice.
Known as ‘munadi’ in official parlance, this exercise is part of section 82 of the CrPC and is used when a warrant against an accused could not be executed.
There are 12 cases under stringent sections registered against Nahid Hasan. Out of these, Hasan has been served warrant in four cases by the court. Police believe that the MLA has fled Kairana and is trying to evade arrest after a non-bailable warrant was served to him.
“Apart from munadi, the proclamation was put up on the wall of his house as well. This is a due process as the MLA has not been cooperating in the investigation and has been evading arrest or surrender in court,” Shamli SP Ajay Kumar said.
Trouble began mounting for the lawmaker following a public spat with Kairana SDM Amit Pal Sharma in September last month. The incident happened on September 9 when the SDM and Kairana CO spotted a car belonging to the MLA, which had a “odd-sounding” registration number (PJP 32). The officers asked the MLA to produce registration certificate, but he allegedly misbehaved with them and tried to disturb law and order.
Following this, local police started dusting off all old cases against the lawmaker.
The lawmaker has lately been in news for all the wrong reasons. In a video message in July this year, Nahid had asked people to boycott shops being run by BJP supporters in the city, a remark which invited widespread condemnation from various quarters. The district administration had then termed his statement “malicious” while police lodged an FIR naming the MLA and launched a probe.