The income tax department on Wednesday morning raided several premises linked to Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. Raids are ongoing in Lucknow, Rampur, Meertut, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur and Sitapur. According to reports, the IT raids are in connection with the Al Jauhar Trust. At least 30 premises were searched by the income tax officials on Wednsday in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The raids were part of a tax evasion probe against Azam Khan.

Former Cabinet minister Azam Khan is the head of the Al Jauhar Trust. Early this year, the UP government cancelled a lease for a 3.24 acre plot in Rampur given to the Trust to set up[ a research institute. The lease for this plot was signed in 2013-14 for ₹100 a year for more than 30 years. It was cancelled by the government on allegations of irregularities. The research institute was never built.

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