The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Lucknow zonal office, has secured four days’ custodial remand of Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister Mohammad Azam Khan in a money-laundering case linked to Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur.
The remand, granted by the special judge (PMLA), Court No. The complaints alleged that farmers in Singankheda village were threatened, assaulted and unlawfully confined to force them to transfer their agricultural land in favour of the university. The allegations are under investigation and have not been established as guilt by a court.
1, Ghaziabad, will begin from 4.30 pm on November 12 and end on 4.30 pm on November 16. the court observed that statutory requirements under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had been prima facie fulfilled While allowing the ED’s application. The court referred to an alleged financial scam involving diversion of public funds and assets worth ₹ 426.46 crore. The ED’s investigation originated from 26 FIRs registered at Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur in July 2019. Khan was arrested by the ED on October 31. He was subsequently sent to 14 days’ judicial custody by the special PMLA court.
It said custodial interrogation was necessary to trace the extensive money trail and establish the role of multiple entities and shell structures.
It also cited Khan’s allegedly evasive responses during earlier statements and rejected the defence objections to custodial interrogation.
The court directed that Khan, currently lodged in Dasna jail in Ghaziabad, undergo medical examinations before entering ED custody and before being produced at the end of the remand. It prohibited physical or mental torture and allowed an advocate of his choice to meet him for one hour daily. His health must be examined every 48 hours, and the investigating officer must produce him before the court after the remand expires.
