Court Orders Fresh Probe Into 18-Year-Old Extortion Case Against Azam Khan

The Rampur MP/MLA court has ordered a fresh investigation into an 18-year-old extortion case against Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. The case, previously closed due to lack of evidence, was reopened after the complainant’s son challenged the police’s final report. Khan remains in jail for unrelated convictions.

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan faces fresh legal trouble after the Rampur MP/MLA court ordered further investigation into an 18-year-old extortion case against him. The case, originally filed in 2007, involves allegations that Khan demanded ₹5 lakh from a local trader as a donation for the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

The Rampur police had earlier closed the case due to a lack of evidence. However, the decision was challenged, leading to the court’s directive on January 21 to reopen the investigation. The complainant, Afsar Khan, accused Azam Khan of misusing his political influence to demolish his papad manufacturing unit in 2006 when he refused to pay the alleged extortion amount. Despite showing legal documents proving ownership, Afsar claimed that authorities went ahead with the demolition.

Afsar Khan passed away in 2024, but his son, Zulfikar Khan, pursued the case and objected to the police’s final closure report. His lawyer, Awadhesh Kumar Agarwal, argued that the case had remained unresolved for years before being dismissed in April 2024 due to "lack of evidence." The court has now directed the police to collect further evidence and investigate the matter thoroughly.

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Azam Khan, a powerful figure during the Samajwadi Party’s rule in Uttar Pradesh, is currently serving a sentence in Sitapur jail after being convicted in two separate cases related to his son Abdullah Azam’s birth certificates.