NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached land and buildings belonging to Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Uttar Pradesh, alleging they were acquired or built using proceeds of crime linked to Samajwadi Party leader and former state cabinet minister Azam Khan, the agency said on Wednesday.
The attached assets are valued at Rs 426.46 crore as proceeds of crime, though their current market value is estimated at about Rs 1,170 crore. The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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 is also the university’s honorary chancellor.
The agency said its investigation was based on 26 police complaints alleging that farmers’ land had been forcibly acquired for the university. It also cited a district administration report stating that about 34 acres of enemy property had been illegally occupied.
The land has since been taken back by the government’s custodian. The ED alleged that public funds meant for government works were diverted to the university, government projects were carried out on its private campus, and contractors holding state contracts routed money back to the trust as donations.
A contractor’s managing director told investigators that 30% to 40% of the value of road-building contracts worth about Rs 186 crore went towards purchasing construction material for the university, the agency said.
The agency also cited Rs 23.41 crore in state-sanctioned funds for a pandal, a hostel and a hospital block on the campus. It said a 2016 government order, issued while 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, while only Rs 72.63 crore could be explained through legitimate sources. The agency said the trust’s office-bearers could not account for the remaining Rs 426.46 crore.