New Delhi, August 1: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was on Thursday booked on money laundering charges by the Enforcement Directorate. The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was filed against the Rampur MP based on the ED's probe into the alleged land grabbing cases involving him.

ED officials privy to the case said the agency has taken cognizance of at least 26 FIRs filed by the UP Police against Khan. The 70-year-old politician has been accused of usurping an array of lands in connivance with top police officials in the erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav-led government in the state. Abdullah Azam Khan, Son of SP MP Azam Khan, Arrested For Fake Passport Documents

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, the official added.

The money laundering charges against Khan comes two days after the Rampur police raided his Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur.

Following the raid, the lawmaker told the media that female staff of his varsity were heckled, and one of them was forcefully taken into the police jeep and "released at 2 am in the night".

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday took cognizance of the matter and asked the UP government to provide the details of the raid to the bench. The plea in the case was filed by the university's registrar. The matter has been listed for hearing on August 6.

The Rampur police has lodged a criminal case against university authorities on June 16 on a complaint by the principal of 250-year-old Rampur-based Oriental College, earlier known as Madrasa Aliya, that over 9,000 books were stolen and taken to the library of the Jauhar University.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 01, 2019 08:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).