Rare books stolen from madrasa recovered from Azam Khan’s university

The Rampur police on Tuesday recovered rare books and manuscripts stolen from Raza Oriental College (Madrasa Alia) in 2019 from under the lift of a building on the premises of the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, run by a trust headed by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan.

Raza Oriental College (Madrasa Alia) was established by the Nawab of Rampur in 1774. The recovery was made on the information provided by two aides of the SP leader’s son Abdullah Azam who were arrested earlier, said police.

The police found these books while digging underneath a lift. They also found a cleaning machine of the local corporation buried near the medical college of the university. The machine was reported missing seven years ago, the police added.

“During rigorous interrogation, the two accused revealed that the stolen books were hidden in the lift shaft that was closed by constructing a wall over it. Hundreds of books were found buried in the shaft under the wall. The process of counting the books is still going on,” said ASP (Rampur) Sansar Singh. “We will further apply for the custody remand of the duo as they could help in recovering other stolen items.”