LUCKNOW: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Maulana Shamsul Huda Khan, a former government-recognised madrassa teacher from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Khan is accused of fraudulently drawing government salary and retirement benefits for nearly a decade while living in the United Kingdom after acquiring British citizenship.
According to ED sources, Khan amassed immovable assets worth over Rs 33 crore and allegedly held ₹5 crore in cash sourced from suspicious domestic and foreign entities. Investigators are also probing his alleged links with Pakistan-based religious organisations and UK-based radical networks, terming the case one of the most serious examples of “systemic breakdown and administrative collusion” in the state’s madrassa education framework.
The money laundering probe stems from multiple FIRs, a detailed investigation by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), and intelligence inputs shared by police authorities in Sant Kabir Nagar, which flagged possible foreign funding, misuse of NGO platforms, and ideological influence operations in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Official records reveal that Khan was appointed as an assistant teacher in a government-aided madrassa in 1984. Despite leaving India in 2007 and settling permanently in the UK, he continued to submit medical leave applications, update service records, and ultimately secured voluntary retirement in 2017, drawing full salary and pension benefits. He allegedly received uninterrupted government salary for nearly ten years estimated at around Rs 16 lakh even after acquiring British citizenship in 2013, making him ineligible for government service.
The ED is now scrutinising Khan’s eight bank accounts in India, his foreign investments, and multiple overseas transactions. Sources said he travelled frequently to Pakistan and other countries over the past two decades, raising red flags over cross-border financial flows. His alleged association with Dawat-e-Islami, a Pakistan-based organisation known for its fundamentalist outreach, is also under investigation.
Further, agency sources revealed that Khan established two madrasas in Azamgarh and Sant Kabir Nagar, both of which were later deregistered by state authorities for violating regulatory norms. Investigators are examining whether these institutions were used as conduits for foreign funding or ideological mobilisation.
Following the exposure of the scam, the Uttar Pradesh government on November 22 suspended four senior officials of the Minority Welfare Department for allegedly facilitating illegal salary disbursals, approving unauthorised leave, and clearing retirement-related documents despite Khan’s prolonged absence and foreign citizenship.
Multiple criminal cases have been registered against Khan, including charges of cheating under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. Separate FIRs have been lodged in Azamgarh for cheating and forgery, and in Sant Kabir Nagar for allegedly concealing foreign citizenship and activities construed as “waging war against India.”
