Shia Waqf board returns encroached properties back to Rampur's royal family

Lucknow, Apr 4: Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf board has taken control of several waqf properties from Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Azam Khan and handed them over back to the royal family of Rampur. Shia Waqf Board Chairman Ali Zaidi acknowledged that after SP constituted the state government in 2012, Azam Khan had illegally encroached over several properties under the board's name.

 

 

 

 

According to Zaidi, the decision was taken during the board's last meeting that took place on Mar 31. Azam Khan, during his tenure in the state govt, had illegally encroached on around seven waqf properties, that Zaidi termed as 'alal aulad', referring to hereditary nature of the property. These properties included a fortified mosque and an 'Imambara' (Imambara is the house or court of 'Imam' - religious leader in Islam).

 

 

Also read: #SaveJagannathTemple: 40 chullahs in the holy kitchen of Puri Jagannath Temple vandalized 

 

Zaidi says that several such properties, that Khan had encroached upon illegally in his term, have been returned back to their true owners after thorough investigation. Azam Khan presently is in police custody at Sitapur jail, found guilty in over 100 cases concerned with theft, criminal intimidation, fraud and encroachment. The news comes as huge setback to the MLA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several other names have come up with the investigations. Investigations have revealed that Azam Khan had facilitated the encroachments with the assistance of Wasim Rizvi, Former head of UP Shia Waqf Board, whereby an individual named Wasim Khan was positioned as the caretaker of the encroached properties. The Shaukat Ali Bazar that was based on these properties, was then demolished in 2013 despite of the court's stay order.

 

 

According to Zaidi, followed after the reorganization of the Waqf board in Nov 2021, an inquiry was organized over the several complaints against the board regarding its illegal encroachment activities of properties. The inquiry resulted in removal of Wasim Khan as the caretaker of these properties, replaced by Haider Ali Khan, the grandson of Begum Noor Bano of Rampur's royal family.