The Enforcement Directorate has registered a criminal case of money laundering against Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in connection with multiple alleged land grab cases registered against him in Uttar Pradesh, officials said Thursday.
They said the agency has taken cognisance of at least 26 UP Police FIRs against the Member of Parliament (MP) to file its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). The ECIR is Enforcement Directorate's equivalent of a police FIR.
Sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act have been pressed against Khan and others who are alleged to have grabbed land by threatening extortion, they said.
The Enforcement Directorate will probe if the proceeds of crime of the alleged land grab and extortion were used by Khan and others to create personal assets, which could be attached under PMLA and subsequent prosecution could be launched.
The former Uttar Pradesh minister has been named in the FIRs lodged in connection with the alleged forcible acquisition of land for the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, of which he is the founder and Chancellor.
The Samajwadi Party had alleged that the move was a conspiracy by the Rampur District Magistrate to defame Khan and the university.
Rampur MP Khan's name was also put on an online list of "land mafias" by the district administration recently.
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