The raids are being conducted to trace fraudulently obtained money, financial records, and digital evidence.
ED raids SP leader Azam Khan’s Trust and University: The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Wednesday raided premises linked to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and the University of jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan as part of a money laundering investigation, officials said.
Officials said about 10 premises in Rampur and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi were being searched as part of a case registered under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002. It is alleged that government funds were diverted through some private contractors and then that money was used to build assets in the name of the university or trust. The investigation has also revealed that there was a transaction of money between the contractors and the trust. The contractors who benefited from the government works put the money in trusts and universities in the form of donations and constructions. The raids are being conducted to trace fraudulently obtained money, financial records, and digital evidence. This shows how and where the government funds were used.
The university was recently in the news when the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) in July directed the varsity administration to demolish 38 of its 40 buildings, alleging they had been constructed without approved building plans under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973.
The university’s students subsequently launched a protest against this demolition plan, citing concerns about disruption to their studies. Soon after, the divisional commissioner stayed the proposed demolition and directed that no administrative action be taken until further orders, providing temporary relief to the institution in the long-running dispute with the authorities.
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