Shrikant case: Swami Prasad sends defamation notice to Noida police chief

Maurya, who is also a member of the UP Legislative Council, has sought Rs 11.50 cr as general and special compensation for loss of reputation and family honour, mental torture and physical agony

Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Saturday said he has sent a legal notice for defamation to the Gautam Buddh Nagar police commissioner for linking him to politician Shrikant Tyagi accused of assaulting a woman.

Maurya, who is also a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, has sought Rs 11.50 crore as general and special compensation for loss of reputation and family honour, mental torture and physical agony, according to the copy of the notice shared by him on social media.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar police, meanwhile, said in a statement that it was yet to receive any such legal notice. The police said it would respond only after studying the notice.

Regarding the Vidhan Sabha pass found in the Shrikant Tyagi case, the police commissioner of Gautam Buddh Nagar has acted irresponsibly and without investigating tried to tarnish my image, reputation and popularity in the whole country through the press. In this context, I have sent a legal notice for defamation, Maurya tweeted in Hindi.

His lawyer J S Kashyap also confirmed to PTI that the legal notice has been sent on Friday and they were awaiting a response to it.

Tyagi was arrested on August 9 over assaulting and abusing a woman co-resident of his society in Noida.

He has also been booked for cheating and under the Gangsters Act. The cheating case related to the misuse of a sticker given to MLAs of Uttar Pradesh and a symbol of the state government which were found on his car.

During the press conference on August 9 in Noida, Police Commissioner Alok Singh said: "He (Tyagi) also had a sticker on one of his vehicles which is given to honourable MLAs. Tyagi told police during questioning that this sticker was provided to him by his associate Swami Prasad Maurya."

In a statement issued on Saturday night, he Gautam Buddh Nagar police said, "Today information has been received through social media that a notice/letter has been issued by an advocate on behalf of former cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya in the context of the press conference held on August 9."

"In this regard, it is to be informed that no such notice/letter has been officially received by the Noida Commissionerate Police. After receiving the said notice/letter and studying the facts mentioned in it, a suitable answer will be prepared and sent to the concerned, it said.

Maurya was a cabinet minister in the first term of the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh from 2017. However, he switched to the Samajwadi Party ahead of the 2022 state elections.

He was earlier a prominent face of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.

Tyagi claimed to be the national executive member of the BJP's Kisan Morcha and the national co-coordinator of its Yuva Samiti, until he went underground on August 5 after the clip of the spat with the woman went viral.

While the ruling party denied any links with him, the opposition mounted an attack on the BJP, sharing purported pictures of Tyagi with senior saffron party leaders, including its national president J P Nadda.