RAMPUR, October 31, 2026: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) outside Rampur District Jail on Saturday evening, shortly after he was released on bail in a separate dual-PAN-card case. The agency is investigating alleged money laundering linked to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University it operates.
Reports used different descriptions of the procedural step as the evening progressed. IANS described the action as an arrest in its report first published at 7:23 pm IST and updated at 8:33 pm. Hindustan Times, in an update at 8:39 pm, quoted a Lucknow Zonal ED official as saying Khan had been apprehended and that arrest procedures would be completed before he was produced before the Ghaziabad special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). PTI at 8:44 pm and ANI at 9:00 pm described him as detained or apprehended and said custody proceedings were expected before the special court.
The immediate action followed an Allahabad High Court order on October 29 that suspended the sentences imposed on Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan in the dual-PAN-card case and granted them bail. That order concerned the separate criminal case; it did not decide the ED’s money-laundering investigation.
Also read: DVAC Raids 25 Locations Linked to KN Nehru in Cash-for-Jobs Probe
The case concerns the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, which owns the university campus in Rampur. The ED’s provisional attachment order dated October 28 identified ₹426.46 crore as alleged proceeds of crime and covered land and buildings associated with the institution. The agency’s statement and reporting on the order put the attached properties’ estimated current market value at about ₹1,170 crore.
The agency alleges that land and resources intended for public purposes, construction materials, and money connected with government projects were diverted towards the university’s development. It has also alleged that funds received from contractors and other sources were used to acquire or develop assets linked to the trust. These are allegations made by investigators. A provisional attachment is an enforcement measure under the PMLA, not a final judicial finding that Khan or another person is guilty.
The ED’s October 28 provisional-attachment release identifies the trust and university assets covered by the action. The agency’s allegations and valuation will remain subject to the statutory adjudication process and any court proceedings.
The investigation is separate from the dual-PAN-card case that led to Khan’s imprisonment. Bail or suspension of sentence in one case does not prevent an investigating agency from taking action in another case if it has a separate legal basis. The legal grounds for the ED action will be tested through the PMLA process, including any remand hearing.
Also read: CJP Leaders Ask Delhi High Court for Urgent Hearing on Custody Challenge
As he was taken away from the jail, Khan said the action amounted to punishment for being Muslim and argued that building a university had become the basis of the case against him. Those remarks are his allegation about the agency’s motive; the reports reviewed for this update do not independently establish religious targeting. The ED’s stated basis for its action is the money-laundering investigation involving the trust and university.
The agency was expected to produce Khan before the Special Court under the PMLA in Ghaziabad for custody proceedings. The court will consider any remand request and the grounds placed before it. The next procedural update should establish whether the formal arrest process has been completed and what period of custody, if any, the court authorizes.