Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 29: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached land and buildings belonging to Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the assets were acquired or constructed using proceeds of crime linked to Samajwadi Party leader and former state cabinet minister Azam Khan.
The attached assets have been valued at Rs 426.46 crore as alleged proceeds of crime, while their estimated current market value stands at around Rs 1,170 crore. The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency said on Wednesday.
The university campus in Rampur is owned by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, which the ED said was founded and controlled by Khan. He also serves as the university’s honorary chancellor.
According to the agency, the investigation was initiated based on 26 police complaints alleging that farmers’ land had been forcibly acquired for the university. The ED also cited a district administration report stating that around 34 acres of enemy property had been illegally occupied. The land has since been taken back by the government’s custodian.
The agency alleged that public funds allocated for government works were diverted to the university, government projects were executed on its private campus, and contractors holding state contracts channelled money back to the trust in the form of donations.
The ED said the managing director of a contractor firm told investigators that 30 to 40 per cent of the value of road construction contracts worth around Rs 186 crore was used to purchase construction materials for the university.
The investigation also examined Rs 23.41 crore in state-sanctioned funds for the construction of a pandal, a hostel and a hospital block on the campus. The agency said a government order issued in 2016, when Khan was a cabinet minister, amended an earlier order to transfer ownership of the pandal to the university.
According to the ED, a government valuer assessed the cost of the campus land and construction at Rs 499.09 crore. However, the agency said only Rs 72.63 crore could be accounted for through legitimate sources, leaving Rs 426.46 crore unexplained by the trust’s office-bearers.