'Priyanka said I will be safe here as UP govt may slap another case': Kafeel Khan in Jaipur

Jaipur : Days after his release from a UP jail on High Court orders, Kafeel Khan here on Thursday said that he will stay away from Uttar Pradesh as the UP government may slap another case against him.

"My life is also under threat," he said while speaking to the media at a press conference.

"Priyanka Gandhi told me that I will be given a safe place here," he said.

Khan also raised questions on the intentions of jail officials and said that despite the court issuing order at 11 am to Mathura Jail Superintendent for his immediate release on Wednesday, he was released at 11.55 pm.

"The orders were also issued to DM Aligarh, UP government and Union Home Ministry, however, I was released when the deadline was ending," he said adding that the DM kept on saying that he will accept the order of people sitting in Lucknow and will not accept the order of the Chief Justice.

Khan said that he, along with his family, managed to cross the UP border with the help of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. "The Rajasthan border is connected with Mathura and hence we entered Bharatpur connecting with the town. Here there is a Congress government and we feel safe. Even my family felt the same. I was mentally harassed for seven-and-a-half months and was also physically tortured. The only thing I was asked was not to speak against the government. Now, I want to spend time peacefully with my family," he added.

He further said that he warned everyone about the COVID-19 pandemic on January 27 itself and circulated a video making them aware on how to fight with the virus by washing hands. "However, I was arrested on January 29. I also wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi on present medical arrangements," he said, adding that around 1 crore people will be infected with this virus.

"Now I shall try to get reinstated in my job and will request the CM for the same. I will write a letter to him in this context. With my last 10 years of experience, I can contribute in the fight against COVID pandemic. Those making the vaccine can test it on me as well."

"NSA was slapped against me without any grounds and I was kept in jail for no reason where I was mentally and physically tortured. Even Allahabad High Court said that DM Aligarh misused Indian legal arrangements," claimed Khan.

Khan was arrested in January on charges of giving a 'hate speech' in AMU against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 13, 2019. The NSA was slapped against him and he was sent to Mathura jail.