The Enforcement Directorate’s Lucknow Zone has provisionally attached land and buildings of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur worth Rs 426.46 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The current market value of the attached assets is estimated at nearly Rs 1,170 crore.
The action targets the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Mohammad Azam Khan, and others in an ongoing money-laundering investigation.
The university campus in Jauhar Nagar, SinghanKheda village, Rampur, is owned by the trust founded and controlled by Azam Khan, who also serves as its honorary chancellor. Investigators allege that the trust forcibly acquired agricultural land for the project and diverted public funds to build both the university and private residences on the premises.
ED’s probe draws on multiple FIRs registered by Rampur police, including cases under sections of the Indian Penal Code related to extortion and criminal intimidation, as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the agency, local families in Rampur were coerced in 2016 into selling properties at throwaway prices under threats, with bulldozers deployed under the directions of the then circle officer and others acting on Azam Khan’s instructions. Cash, jewellery and other valuables were allegedly seized during these operations.
The difference between the actual cost of construction and the inflated bills raised by contractors was reportedly funnelled back to the trust as commission. A company whose managing director received contracts worth around `186 crore admitted that the real cost of the work was 30 to 40 per cent lower, with the balance paid as commission. Another firm admitted to paying roughly 40 per cent as commission. The Income Tax Department has already cancelled the trust’s registration under the Income Tax Act, 1961, based on these findings.
Further investigation revealed that the Uttar Pradesh Government spent Rs 23.41 crore on a pond, OBC hostels and a hospital block that were later transferred to the university’s private premises. A 2016 Government order modified earlier conditions that had kept ownership of the pond with the state and restricted its transfer. University employees filled posts created for the pond’s upkeep, and the state paid their salaries from public funds.
At the time, Azam Khan held the Urban Development and Urban Planning portfolios. An independent District Valuation Officer reviewed the total construction cost of the 59 major buildings and 114 others in a November 2023 report and arrived at Rs 499.09 crore. After accounting for the trust’s book value of Rs 78.32 cr and other adjustments, ED could trace only Rs 72.63 cr to legitimate sources. ED identified the balance of Rs 426.46 cr as proceeds of crime.
ED searched the university and nearby locations on 19 August 2026, seizing electronic devices and documents linked to the proceeds of the crime. The attachment covers land acquired under pressure and buildings built with misused funds. Investigators are still tracing the flow of money and identifying others who may have been involved, either directly or through other people and organisations. This is one of the largest provisional attachments ever made against a private educational institution in UP.
The agency is clearly investigating the alleged use of political connections to siphon public funds into former ministers’ private trusts. The properties remain with the trust, and the money-laundering probe is ongoing.