In a significant development, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday attached the land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, which is held by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust. The Trust was founded and is controlled by Samajwadi Party leader and former Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, Mohammad Azam Khan, who is also the honorary Chancellor of the university and is currently in jail.The attachment was carried out in connection with a money laundering case against the Trust, Mohammad Azam Khan and others.The District Valuation Officer, an independent valuer, assessed the cost of construction of the 59 buildings on the university campus at Rs 494.46 crore in a report dated November 10, 2023. The land on which the university stands, acquired through 114 sale deeds, was valued at Rs 4.63 crore.The ED investigation found that only Rs 72.63 crore of the campus’s cost could be explained through legitimate sources.The investigation thus revealed that the balance of Rs 426.46 crore (Rs 499.09 crore – Rs 72.63 crore) constituted the proceeds of crime in this case, allegedly generated through illegitimate means.The office-bearers of the Trust could not substantiate the source of the Rs 426.46 crore, which was identified as proceeds of crime in the case. Therefore, the land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, Rampur, to the extent of Rs 426.46 crore and having a current market value of Rs 1,170 crore, were provisionally attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.The ED initiated the investigation based on 26 FIRs registered at Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur under Section 384 of the IPC and other sections, alleging that agricultural land belonging to farmers had been forcibly taken over for the university.Further, according to an inquiry report by the Rampur district administration, 45 plots of enemy property measuring about 34 acres in Singhankhera village were also allegedly illegally occupied by Mohammad Azam Khan for the university, even after the custodian had cancelled the lease of the land to the Trust.Possession of this land has been taken back by the custodian of enemy property under the Union Home Ministry through the Rampur district administration.During the investigation, the ED found that funds meant for public works were allegedly diverted to the university, government works were reportedly executed on its private campus, and funds from contractors who had been awarded government contracts were allegedly routed back to the Trust as donations.The ED shared this information with the Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 66(2) of the PMLA. Based on this information, an FIR was registered at Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur on October 13, 2026, against Mohammad Azam Khan, the Trust and others under Sections 61, 316(5) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The ED has also taken up 28 other FIRs registered by the Rampur police against Khan and others for investigation. Chargesheets have been filed in most of these cases. The FIRs and chargesheets allege that, in 2016, the houses of several families in Rampur city, many of whom were tenants of Waqf properties, were demolished using bulldozers by a mob allegedly led by the then Circle Officer and others on Khan’s instructions.According to the FIRs, the occupants were allegedly assaulted, threatened with false criminal cases, and robbed of their cash, jewellery and cattle.The debris from the demolished houses was allegedly transported to the university. The FIRs and chargesheets further allege that cleaning machinery purchased for the Rampur Nagar Palika was diverted to the university premises.The investigation revealed that contractors, mostly based in Rampur, allegedly diverted funds and construction material from government contracts towards the construction of the university. The managing director of one such company, which received Public Works Department (PWD) contracts worth about Rs 186 crore, reportedly admitted that 30 to 40 per cent of the contract value was used to purchase construction material for the university.The partners of another firm reportedly admitted that they operated under the influence of Mohammad Azam Khan and that the firm had donated Rs 40 lakh to the Trust.It was further revealed that, in similar findings, the Income Tax Department had revoked the Trust’s registration under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.Further investigation revealed that various works worth Rs 6.60 crore were executed on the university’s private campus using MLA/MLC Local Area Development funds. These works were carried out by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, of which Mohammad Azam Khan was the chairman at the time.The Trust also allegedly received donations worth Rs 6.24 crore from two Meerut-based educational entities through political influence.It was also found that the Uttar Pradesh government had sanctioned Rs 23.41 crore for the construction of a pandal, an OBC boys’ hostel and a hospital block on the university’s private campus.The District Valuation Officer, an independent valuer, had assessed the cost of construction of the 59 buildings on the university campus at Rs 494.46 crore in a report dated November 10, 2023. The land acquired through 114 sale deeds was valued at Rs 4.63 crore.The total cost of the campus was thus assessed at Rs 499.09 crore (Rs 494.46 crore + Rs 4.63 crore). Against this, the Trust reportedly showed capital expenditure of only Rs 78.32 crore in its income tax returns. Further, donations worth Rs 12.29 crore out of this amount were found to be non-genuine, leaving only Rs 66.03 crore as genuine expenditure incurred by the Trust on the construction of buildings and acquisition of land for the university.Earlier, the ED had also conducted searches at the university and related premises on August 19, 2026, during which electronic devices and incriminating records were seized.