LUCKNOW: In a crackdown against religious propaganda allegedly funded by foreign firms, the Sant Kabir Nagar district administration booked a Muslim cleric in Khalilabad for his suspected involvement in anti-national activities and illegal foreign transactions.
The FIR was filed against Maulana Shamsul Huda Khan, the former manager of Madrasa Kulliyatul Banatir Rajviya (Niswa), on late Sunday night by District Minority Welfare Officer Praveen Kumar Mishra.
The Maulana was booked after an extensive probe conducted by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Varanasi Unit which flagged serious irregularities in foreign donations received by him and also the use of religious platforms for spreading sectarian influence under the guise of “Islamic education and welfare.”
According to the ATS report, Huda lived in the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2017 without permission from the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Board or the Government of India.
During his stay abroad, he acquired British citizenship in 2013 and subsequently began organising religious gatherings, lectures, and online sermons on Islamic theology.
As per the official sources, Huda maintained links with individuals and organisations in Pakistan and Jammu & Kashmir, allegedly using those networks to promote a subtle campaign of “Islamisation” and ideological expansion within India.
He returned to India in 2017 and established Madrasa Kulliyatul Banatir Rajviya in Khalilabad under the banner of Kulliyatul Banatir Rajviya Educational and Welfare Society. He also floated another NGO named Raza Foundation.
Both organisations, as per the ATS report, were used to collect foreign funds for educational and welfare purposes, but a portion of the money was allegedly diverted for personal commission, brokerage, and unauthorised transactions.
Investigators traced suspicious inflows from overseas contributors that were channelled through multiple accounts linked to these NGOs. The funds were reportedly distributed among various religious institutions in Sant Kabir Nagar, Azamgarh, and adjoining districts, including Darul Uloom Ahle Sunnat Ashrafia Misbahul Uloom in Mubarakpur, which also came under scrutiny.
Authorities said Huda’s activities were “not limited to religious propagation but extended to ideological networking,” raising red flags over possible attempts to influence youth through religious indoctrination and radicalisation.
Taking cognisance of the ATS findings and communications from the Minority Welfare Department and the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board, the Sant Kabir Nagar administration ordered immediate legal action.
According to SP Sandeep Meena, an FIR was registered under Section 318(4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and under relevant provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, against Shamsul Huda Khan.
"We have written to the state govt demanding a probe by Enforcement Directorate into his possessions," said the SP.
Following the FIR, the registration and recognition of Madrasa Kulliyatul Banatir Rajviya, along with the two NGOs — Kulliyatul Banatir Rajviya Educational and Welfare Society and Raza Foundation — have been suspended pending detailed inquiry.
Officials added that further action would depend on the outcome of the ATS’s financial and digital audit, which aimed at revealing the fact over the alleged misuse of funds for ideological radicalisation or other unlawful purposes.
Public funds moved under the cover of corporate loans and inter-corporate deposits. Money passed from one company to another. Bank statements show very fast movement of funds. Very large amounts have been moved between accounts of different entities within minutes,” it stated.
It further revealed that although RHFL is a housing finance company, its loan book shifted heavily to corporate loans.
“The National Housing Bank imposed a monetary penalty on RHFL for regulatory breaches. The company’s statutory auditors resigned. They flagged material uncertainty over the recoverability of corporate loans. A fraud report was also filed under Section 143(12) of the Companies Act. The subsequent auditor was penalised by the National Financial Reporting Authority for failing to perform key procedures. SEBI also took action against the company and certain officials. Multiple intentional acts of mala fide have been detected by ED while advances loans to various companies, which ultimately were siphoned off.”
ED has, in this case, detected a pattern of mala fide: pre-decided beneficiaries, manufactured paperwork, waived controls, and disbursals ahead of approvals, followed by swift routing to related entities. This conduct enabled siphoning of public funds.
Some of such violations detected while analysing records related to loans extended by RHFL and RCFL include: Disbursal before sanction: Money was released before formal approval. Paperwork followed later. Chronology is impossible under prudent lending. It proves back-dating and pre-decided payouts.
