ED raids 10 locations linked to Azam Khan's Jauhar University, trust in UP, Delhi
ED raids 10 locations linked to Azam Khan's Jauhar University, trust in UP, Delhi
M.U.H
19/08/202613
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at around 10 locations linked to jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi as part of a money laundering investigation.
The searches were carried out in Rampur and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Jamia Nagar in Delhi under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, agency officials said.
The ED is investigating the alleged diversion of government contract funds through private contractors and their subsequent use, including for creating assets linked to the Jauhar Trust and university.
According to the agency, its investigation has uncovered financial transactions between certain private contractors and the Trust. The ED suspects that contractors who benefited from government contracts subsequently diverted part of the money to the Trust and university through substantial donations and payments for construction work.
The searches are aimed at tracing the alleged proceeds of crime and collecting financial records, documents and digital evidence related to the flow and use of the funds, officials said.
The ED's investigation into matters linked to the Jauhar Trust and university dates back to 2019, when the agency registered a money laundering case against Azam Khan.
The agency had taken note of at least 26 FIRs registered by Uttar Pradesh Police in connection with alleged land grabbing in Rampur. Several cases related to allegations that land was forcibly acquired or encroached upon for the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, founded by Khan, who is also its Chancellor.
The probe subsequently expanded to the trust's finances, including donations and their utilisation. The agency questioned donors and trustees, inspected land associated with the university and examined financial transactions linked to its establishment and operations.
The current searches focus on a financial trail involving alleged diversion of government contract funds. The ED is examining records of government contracts, payments to contractors, donations received by the Trust, construction expenditure, bank transactions and digital communications.
UP MINISTER DEFENDS ACTION
Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari defended the searches, alleging that "new stories of corruption" linked to the establishment of Jauhar University were coming to light.
Ansari alleged that public money had been misused and that land belonging to the poor and the government was illegally occupied to establish the university. He said the ED was conducting its investigation and action would follow if wrongdoing was established.
"When you sow a babul tree, you cannot expect sweet fruits," the minister said.
He also alleged that Samajwadi Party leaders had illegally occupied Waqf properties, claiming that investigations had revealed SP leaders as occupants wherever such alleged encroachments had been exposed.
CONGRESS, SP ALLEGE POLITICAL TARGETING
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai, meanwhile, accused the state government of targeting Azam Khan. "Azam Khan is being harassed by the government," Rai said.
The searches have also drawn criticism from the Samajwadi Party and other opposition parties, which have alleged that the action is politically motivated.
The latest ED searches come amid a separate controversy involving the university. In July, the Rampur Development Authority directed the demolition of 38 of the university's 40 buildings, alleging that they had been constructed without approved plans under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973.
The proposed demolition was subsequently stayed by the Moradabad divisional commissioner, who directed that no administrative action be taken until further orders.
