ED to question jailed UP politicians Mukhtar Ansari, Azam Khan in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will interrogate three Uttar Pradesh politicians Azam Khan, Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmad in connection with alleged money laundering cases. All three politicians are currently lodged in different jails in UP and Gujarat. The ED has received permission for a custodial interrogation of all three jailed politicians from courts. 

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan, who is currently lodged in the Sitapur jail faces a number of charges including cheating and forgery of documents. An FIR was lodged against Azam Khan and his son in 2019 alleging that his son Abdullah had submitted forged documents along with his nomination papers for contesting from the Suar assembly constituency. In his papers, Abdullah's date of birth was mentioned as September 30, 1990, as opposed to the actual January 1, 1993, to make him eligible for contesting elections. The two have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for facilitating two fake birth certificates. He was jailed along with his son Abdullah Azam Khan in February 2021.

Don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari who had been recently offered a ticket by AIMIM  for the 2022 UP Polls faces more than 50 criminal cases not just in UP but other states as well. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) MLA is a history-sheeter and has been shifting from various jails in Ropar, Ghazipur, Mau, Agra, Lucknow over extortion charges. Currently, he is lodged in the Banda jail.

Atiq Ahmad is another don-turned-politician which the AIMIM is looking to field in the assembly elections next year. He has served as an MLA from the Allahabad West constituency 5 times in a row from 1989 to 2004 besides being elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2004 General Election on a Samajwadi Party ticket. Facing multiple criminal cases pertaining to offences such as murder, abduction, extortion and fraud, he is currently lodged at the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat. 

(With Agency Inputs)