It was not a Midsummer Night’s Dream but a late summer’s early morning horror for Hyderabad on Saturday as Waqf Mafia spread terror on the Shantinagar Road when an SUV rammed into noted advocate Khaja Moizuddin as he was getting into his car. Moizuddin was flung twenty feet away and lay severely bleeding. He was rushed to the hospital by his family, but he passed away in the afternoon. He had reportedly survived five previous attacks.
According to Moizuddin’s son, advocate Sanaullah Farhan, it was a targeted killing by the Waqf Mafia. He accused industrialist and educationist Nawab Mahbub Alam Khan and his son, Mujahid Alam Khan, of being the masterminds behind Moizuddin’s murder. He disclosed that six months ago, Mujahid Alam had visited his office in Himayatnagar and warned of dire consequences if his father did not stop pursuing Waqf cases against them. He allegedly told Farhan that he was giving a last chance and asked him not to blame him (Mujahid) for the consequences later.
As per Telangana State Waqf Board records, Anwar-ul-Uloom High School at Habeebnagar is built on 2,826 square yards. A two-storey Anwar-ul-Uloom College at Mallepally has been built on 14,705 square yards. Madrasa Aiza, which houses the Nawab Shah Alam Engineering College in Malakpet, is spread across 6.5 acres, and Mumtaz College has been established on the same area spanning 23 acres. Sources disclosed that the society running these institutions on Waqf land had been paying the Waqf fund. These Waqf properties have reportedly been uploaded on the UMEED portal by the Waqf Board as they are notified Waqf properties.
The dispute between educational society members Mahbub Alam Khan, his son Mujahid Alam Khan, and the murdered Moizuddin arose over allegations that certain society guidelines were changed as per their convenience, according to sources. Moizuddin’s aged father-in-law, advocate Ghulam Yazdani, who is in his mid-nineties, was also once part of the society. The late advocate Moizuddin reportedly raised concerns over such changes and went on to win related legal cases, according to sources.
The two main accused, Mahbub Alam Khan and Mujahid Alam Khan, are now enjoying air-conditioned hospitality provided by the Hyderabad City Police, according to Farhan. The accused have access to mobile phones and are reportedly making calls on WhatsApp. They are being questioned, not interrogated. The alleged hit-and-run killers were also arrested. The judiciary has a task cut out to find out who the killers are and who the masterminds are, and punish them accordingly. But advocates fighting Waqf cases, activists working for the protection of Waqf properties in Telangana, and journalists covering the Waqf beat for the print and electronic media have become vulnerable and can be sitting ducks for the dangerous mafia.
The Central Waqf Council should take over the administration of the Telangana State Waqf Board and initiate inquiries into encroachments and frauds since 1995. A forensic audit must be taken up, especially for dealings between 2014 and 2026. At the same time, honest social workers from the Muslim community in the province, who consider waqf properties as the property of Allah, should knock on the door of the court regarding the issue of encroachments and frauds.
The Moizuddin murder case must be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Since the main accused are highly connected to top politicians from Congress, BJP, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the CBI must ensure that they are not unduly influenced. Mobile phones of the two main accused must be vetted for activities over the past six months, and cameras near their residence in Hyderabad and farmhouses in Ooty and Vikarabad must be scanned to check for suspicious visitors. Investigators must also check video footage of the lavish parties thrown by the main accused persons and question the political bosses who attended these parties.
Mujahid Alam Khan is vice president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC). Neither the State Congress nor the Central High Command has initiated any action against the murder accused till the filing of this report.
A fast-track court should be asked to conduct day-to-day hearings and conclude the case within three months.
Hyderabad has surely fallen on bad days if Nawabs are turning murderers!
