Azam Khan had been lodged in Rampur jail since November 17, 2025.
LUCKNOW: In a dramatic development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested senior Samajwadi Party leader and former MP Azam Khan outside Rampur district jail on Saturday, moments after he walked out following nearly 11 months in custody. Sources in the agency said he had been arrested in connection with a 2019 Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Around 24 CRPF personnel were also deployed outside the prison as the agency prepared to take him into custody.
His son, Abdullah Azam, was released and went home.
He is likely to be produced before a court in Ghaziabad, sources said. The ED team had reached Rampur jail before Khan’s release. The arrest came amid a large gathering of Khan’s supporters, who had assembled outside the jail to welcome him after his release.
The court passed the order on October 29, but declined to stay their convictions. The agency’s 2019 ECIR relates to allegations of financial irregularities and land-grabbing, including matters linked to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and the university established by it. Khan had been lodged in Rampur jail since November 17, 2025.
His release on Saturday, therefore, lasted only briefly before the ED took him into custody in the separate case. Khan and Abdullah had walked out of prison after the Allahabad High Court granted them bail and suspended their sentences in the dual PAN card case. Consequently, their disqualification from contesting elections remains in force. Khan was taken into custody by the ED in the separate money-laundering case While Abdullah left for home.