Uttar Pradesh Police has on Wednesday detained senior Samajwadi Party leader and MP Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam Khan for obstructing the ongoing raids at the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. Abdullah is the Chief Executive Officer of the University and is an elected representative from the Suar Assembly Constituency in the state.
Speaking to media, Rampur SP said, “We have detained Abdullah Azam Khan for obstructing search operation at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.” As per reports, Abdullah has been taken to an undisclosed location.
Abdullah had termed the probe a vendetta. He said, “This is not an investigation. They (state government) are trying to finish an educational institution. They have no search warrant and everything is being done at the behest of the government.”
In an unrelated matter, Abdullah is also under investigation for allegedly submitting false details in his passport. According to reports, Abdullah Khan has been booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 12 of the Passport Act.
The Police had conducted raids on Tuesday morning at Azam Khan’s Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. The police had conducted search operations at ‘Mumtaz Central Library’ of the University after a complaint by the principal of Madarsa Aliya, wherein he stated that 9000 books and rare manuscripts from the Madarsa have been stolen.
The Maulana Ali Jauhar University has been under limelight after local farmers lodged dozens of cases against SP leader Azam Khan alleging that Khan had grabbed their farmlands using forged documents to establish the university. Khan has already been declared as a ‘Bhu-Mafia’ (land mafia) by the UP government. After 26 FIRs were lodged against Khan, the UP government has constituted a 9-member SIT to probe the allegations against the SP leader.
Azam Khan had allegedly used brute force and intimidation tactics to threaten local farmers and had acquired their land either by force or by forged documents. Alay Hassan Khan, the then Rampur circle police officer has been named in the complaints as Khan’s partner in crime.
