Enforcement Directorate books Azam Khan in land grab cases
The Samajwadi Party had alleged that the move was a conspiracy by the Rampur District Magistrate to defame Khan and the university.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday registered a criminal case of money laundering against Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in connection with multiple alleged land grab cases registered against him in Uttar Pradesh.
According to sources, the agency has taken cognisance of at least 26 UP police FIRs against the Member of Parliament (MP) to file its Enforcement Case Infor-mation Report (ECIR).
The ECIR is the Enforcement Director-ate’s equivalent of a police FIR. Sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act have been pressed against Mr Khan and others who are alleged to have grabbed land by threatening extortion, they said.
The ED will probe if the proceeds of the alleged land grab and extortion were used by Mr Khan and others to create personal assets, which could be attached under the PMLA and subsequent prosecution could be launched.
The former UP minister has been named in the FIRs lodged in connection with the alleged forcible acquisition of land for the Moham-mad Ali Jauhar Univer-sity, of which he is the founder and chancellor.
The Samajwadi Party had alleged that the move was a conspiracy by the Rampur District Magistrate to defame Khan and the university. Rampur MP Khan's name was also put on an online list of “land mafias” by the district administration recently.
