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The troubles of Abdullah Azam, son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, seem to be increasing once again, as about 10 thousand yards of his valuable land located near Gandhi Samadhi in Rampur has come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Amidst the investigation of various cases related to Jauhar University, this new murmur of the Central Investigation Agency is intensifying the political stir in the camp of Samajwadi Party. The legal troubles of the family of veteran Samajwadi Party leader and former cabinet minister Azam Khan, known for his outspoken statements and long series of cases in Uttar Pradesh politics, are not stopping. Now the troubles of his son Abdullah Azam Khan seem to be deepening amid the investigation into the matters related to Jauhar University and the continuous action of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). There is a strong discussion going on in the administrative and official circles that about 10 thousand square yards of valuable land near the Gandhi Samadhi located in Rampur has now officially come under the radar of the central investigation agency ED. The investigation started regarding the purchase and sale of this land, its ownership rights and alleged financial irregularities in it has once again put this political family of Samajwadi Party in the dock. There is talk in the political circles from Rampur to Lucknow that if the central agency tightens the noose in this matter, then Abdullah Azam’s troubles may increase significantly in the coming days.
If we look at the background of the whole matter, this land deal is being said to be of the year 2022, when senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was in jail due to various cases. During that time, Abdullah Azam had purchased this valuable land located near Gandhi Samadhi from two of his very close people – Anwar and Salim. However, from the time this deal was signed, serious questions started being raised at the local level regarding its validity and transparency. The initial investigation by the Administrative and Revenue Department had revealed the shocking fact that the plot for which registration has been done is actually the floodplain of the Kosi River. According to the rules, such buying and selling and construction work is prohibited on the land in the river submergence area, but despite this, this land of the submergence area was allegedly registered. Considering the seriousness of this matter, when the local administration conducted its own internal and revenue investigation, many serious irregularities were revealed, after which action was taken to register a formal case in the police station.
The legal noose in this entire land buying and selling matter became tighter when official action was taken by Revenue Department Accountant Sanjay Gangwar. On the basis of the complaint given by accountant Sanjay Gangwar, an FIR was registered against Abdullah Azam Khan, his associates Anwar, Salim and another person Abdullah Parvez under cheating, forgery and other relevant sections at the city Kotwali police station of Rampur on January 19, 2024. According to police and administrative documents, the registry of this land in the name of Abdullah Azam was not completed in one go, but in three different phases or installments. According to official records, the first registry of 0.9110 hectares of land was done on February 21, 2022, while further registries of 0.304-0.304 hectares of land were done on April 4 and April 8, 2022. When the documents of these registries became public, some conscious citizens and political opponents at the local level made a written complaint to the administration and made serious allegations that illegal registration of government and restricted category land was done in a planned manner.
The new and biggest twist in the case came when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started directly intervening in this entire episode. Let us remind you that last month i.e. on August 19, the Central Investigation Agency ED had conducted raids simultaneously at several places in Rampur in connection with the investigation of cases related to Johar University. In this series, ED teams had also raided the premises of a firm named ‘A&S Enterprises’ located on Shaukat Road. According to documents and local sources, this firm is operated in the name of Anwar and Salim, who are considered very close to Abdullah Azam. Sources in the investigating agencies claim that during that raid, the ED team has captured many very important and confidential documents. These seized documents are also said to include the original documents related to the purchase and sale, money transactions, agreements and registry of the same disputed 10 thousand yards of land located near Gandhi Samadhi, after which the layers of this case are being revealed rapidly.
This land is considered extremely valuable in terms of its location and area, because according to the local real estate market, the price of land in this area is estimated to be around Rs 1 lakh per yard. During this large-scale deal, serious allegations of ignoring financial rules and large-scale stamp theft were also revealed in the administrative investigation. After the investigation by the Stamp and Registration Department, the administration took cognizance of the stamp theft in this case and the information about imposing a huge fine of more than one crore rupees was also revealed, due to which the problems of the accused increased further. This fine imposed by the administrative staff and the cases of loss of revenue proved that not only there was paper manipulation in this land deal, but also a full effort was made to defraud the government treasury, the layers of which are now being caught by the central investigating agencies.
At present, all the other accused in this entire criminal case including Abdullah Azam Khan are on bail under the provisions of the law and are fighting their legal battle. However, the rumblings of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the alleged use of huge amounts of black money and the possibility of money laundering in the purchase and sale of this land situated near Gandhi Samadhi have once again brought this episode into the national headlines. Although it is also noteworthy that no separate official criminal case or new arrest has been formally confirmed by the Enforcement Directorate regarding this specific land, but the arrival of this deal on the radar of the central agency has definitely created a stir in the political and administrative circles. Only time will tell what kind of political and judicial challenges this new legal crisis brings for the family of Samajwadi Party founder Azam Khan in the coming days, but it is certain that Abdullah Azam’s troubles are not showing any sign of abating at the moment.