The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, to the extent of Rs 426.46 crore – assets, it says, carry a current market value of roughly Rs 1,170 crore – in a money-laundering case against the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, its founder Mohammad Azam Khan, the jailed Samajwadi Party leader and former state Cabinet Minister, and others.The ED initiated its investigation on the basis of 26 FIRs registered at Azim Nagar Police Station, Rampur, under Section 384 of the IPC and other sections, alleging that agricultural land belonging to farmers was forcibly taken over by the University.“According to an inquiry report of the Rampur district administration, 45 plots of enemy property measuring about 34 acres at Village Singhankhera were also illegally occupied for the University, even after the Custodian had cancelled the lease of that land to the Trust. The Custodian of Enemy Property, Ministry of Home Affairs, has since taken back possession through the district administration,” a ED spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.Investigators found that funds meant for public works were diverted to the University, that government works were executed on its private campus, and that money from contractors allotted government contracts was routed back to the Trust as donations.“That information was shared with the Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, leading to FIR No. 0224/2026 dated October 13 this year, at PS Azeem Nagar against Azam Khan, the Trust and others under Sections 61, 316(5) and 318(4) of the BNS, 2023 and Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,” the spokesperson said.The ED has also taken up 28 other FIRs registered by Rampur Police against Azam Khan and others, in most of which charge-sheets have been filed. Those allege that during 2016, the houses of several families in Rampur city – many of them tenants of Waqf property – were demolished with bulldozers by a mob allegedly led by the then Circle Officer and others on Azam Khan’s instructions, the spokesperson added.Occupants were assaulted, threatened with false criminal cases, and robbed of cash, jewellery and cattle, the FIRs say, and the debris was transported to the University. They further allege that cleaning machinery purchased for Rampur Nagar Palika was diverted to the University premises.Story continues below this adDuring the PMLA investigation, it was found by the ED that contractors, mostly based in Rampur, diverted funds and construction material from government contracts to the University’s construction. “The Managing Director of one such company, which received PWD contracts worth about Rs 186 crore, admitted that 30 to 40 percent of the contract value was used to buy construction material for the University. Partners of another firm admitted they operated under Azam Khan’s influence, and said the firm donated Rs 40 lakh to the Trust,” the spokesperson alleged.The Income Tax Department has separately revoked the Trust’s registration under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Works worth Rs 6.60 crore were executed on the University’s private campus out of MLA/MLC local area development funds, the ED found, by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, of which Azam Khan was then Chairman.“The Trust also received Rs 6.24 crore in donations from two Meerut-based educational entities through political influence,” according to the agency.During investigation, it was also found that the Uttar Pradesh government sanctioned Rs 23.41 crore for a pandal, an OBC boys’ hostel and a hospital block on the private campus. “The 2015 order sanctioning Rs 12.16 crore for the pandal stipulated that ownership would remain with the Culture Department, that it could not be sold or transferred, and that it would be made available free of cost for State government use. By a subsequent order in 2016, those conditions were altered: ownership was transferred to Jauhar University and the condition on State use was deleted. In 2015 and 2016, when the orders were issued, Azam Khan was a Cabinet Minister holding the Urban Development portfolio, and the Jal Nigam functioned under that department,” the spokesperson alleged.Story continues below this adThe District Valuation Officer, an independent valuer, assessed the cost of construction of the 59 buildings on the campus at Rs 494.46 crore in a report on November 10, 2023.“The University’s land, acquired through 114 sale deeds, was valued at Rs 4.63 crore, putting the total campus cost at Rs 499.09 crore. Against this, the Trust has shown capital expenditure of only Rs 78.32 crore in its Income Tax Returns. Of that, donations of Rs 12.29 crore were found to be non-genuine, leaving Rs 66.03 crore as genuine expenditure – with Rs 72.63 crore of the campus cost explained from legitimate sources in all. The balance of Rs 426.46 crore is treated as the proceeds of crime, which the trust’s office-bearers could not substantiate,” the spokesperson said.