Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Moid Khan, the main accused in the Ayodhya rape case, has triggered a political turmoil in Uttar Pradesh, pushing his party on the back foot as the Yogi Adityanath government jumps into action.
Officials with the UP government, who are investigating the properties owned by Khan, have estimated his net worth to be over Rs 50 crore. However, Khan’s family claims he is paying the price for being an SP supporter. They added that the family of the survivor — a 12-year-old — was lying and it was Khan’s worker Raju who was in a relationship with her.
CHECKERED PAST
Khan is not new to controversies. Also an accused in the 2012 Bhadarsa riots, Khan is known for having a tainted past. Locals who hails from Bhadarsa locality of Ayodhya say the family’s influence has been cultivated in the last 15 years.
“Moid Khan was not from an illustrious family. Woh khandaani paise wale nahi the… Allah jane beete 10 se 15 saalon mein aisa kya kiya usne ki itni shohrat haasil kar li (Allah knows how he earned so much wealth in the last 10 to 15 years),” a local said. He added that Khan’s father would take up petty jobs to take care of the family’s financial needs. “This is why Khan, who was enrolled in a local madrasa, left his studies at a young age to assist his father,” he added.
Khan, known for his close ties to Samajwadi MP Awadhesh Prasad, initially ventured into property dealing before his fortunes changed dramatically when SP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2012. That same year, he was accused of inciting riots in Bhadarsa on October 24, 2012, which led to the death of a man named Bhola Gupta. Despite these allegations, Khan’s strong political connections helped him emerge unscathed.
UP Police sources indicate that Khan’s influence was bolstered by his association with Mohammed Rashid, the former chairman of the Bhadrasa Municipal Council, and his father, Mohammed Ahmed, a significant figure in the Muslim community. Utilising his relationship with Ahmed, Khan became the municipal president of the Samajwadi Party in 2012 — a position he still holds.
Khan has six children: four sons and two daughters. His sons Zaheer, Nadeem, and Nafees are involved in business with him. “The elder son runs a shop, while the two others work as salesmen,” sources said, adding that Javed, the youngest, is still studying.
Officials from the district administration estimate that Khan owns property worth over Rs 50 crore. His assets include a bakery built on 3,000 square feet of pond land, a luxurious two-storey house in Bhadarsa, and a shopping complex that houses a private bank, among other properties.
Anirudh Pratap Singh, Additional District Magistrate (ADM), said: “Initially, land worth Rs 1 crore was identified. His bakery has been demolished.” Singh added: “Within 48 hours, many people from Ayodhya and surrounding areas have come complaining that their land has been forcibly occupied by Khan. The investigation is ongoing.”
On Saturday, the administration had bulldozed the bakery but it could not demolish the shopping complex in the main market as a bank was operating from the premises. The administration has issued a notice to vacate the bank, while a bakery running from inside the building has been sealed.
Dr Rajneesh Singh, BJP’s Ayodhya spokesperson, told News18 that a party delegation had met the rape survivor and her mother on Sunday as he assured all possible help to the duo.
‘PAYING THE PRICE’
Khan’s family, however, blamed the survivor’s kin of lying for money and under political pressure. “Khan is paying the price of being an SP supporter. The entire issue is politically motivated. Basically, the girl had an affair with Raju, who is a worker in Khan’s bakery, following which she got pregnant. Raju himself had said before the police that ‘chacha’ (Khan) is innocent, he hasn’t done anything wrong with the girl. But police did not pay any heed to his statement and continued to work as per preconceived notions. Khan’s only fault is that Raju worked in his bakery,” the family members said in a statement.
The family demanded an unbiased investigation into the matter and a DNA test in order to unearth the truth. On Monday, Samajwadi Party shared the statement of Khan’s family on its X handle.
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