Court rejects UP plea to withdraw case against SP local chief

A court herehas rejected a plea of Uttar Pradesh governmentto withdraw a nine-year-old criminal case againstSamajwadi Party'sdistrict president Rashid Siddiquiand a few others for their alleged involvement in a clash during the 2006 local body polls.
The court has again issued a non-bailable warrants against Siddiqui.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Sunder Lal rejectedthe plea filedby the prosecuting officer seeking withdrawl of the case against Siddiqui and others, and ruled that the application to withdrawthe case was not maintainable when the accused have not appeared in court despite being issued warrants.
The court also issued a non-bailable warrant against Siddiqui's nephew Zaffer Iqbal and asked the police to produce them before it on December 19. A non-bailable warrant was also earlier issued against Siddiqui and Iqbal in this connection.

According to prosecution sources, police had filed a chargesheetagainst four accused-- Siddiqui, Iqbal and two others, under several sections of the IPC in connection with the clash that occurred in 2006 during the then local body elections.