Investigators probing the car explosion near the historic fort in New Delhi have extended the investigation to include the founder and managing trustee of the university where key suspects were employed. Authorities say Al‑Falah University in Faridabad employed two of the three main suspects in the case and is now at the centre of multiple regulatory and criminal enquiries. The founder, Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, heads a charitable trust that oversees the university and is linked to a web of nine corporate entities spanning education, software, energy and financial services. His past includes a 2000 fraud case in which he and associates were accused of obtaining around ₹7.5 crore from investors through a scheme that involved conversion into forged shares.
Records show that most of the nine firms shared a single registered address at “Al-Falah House” in Okhla, New Delhi, which also serves as the trust’s office. Investigators are assessing whether any of the entities were used to channel funds or services linked to the terror network allegedly behind the blast. They are examining the corporate trail, funding paths, bank payments, and whether the university’s infrastructure was used for non-academic purposes.
The wider investigation has revealed that the explosion vehicle—a white Hyundai i20—entered the national capital region early in the morning and detonated near a major metro station at about 6.52 pm on 10 November. The blast killed at least eight people and injured more than 20. Forensic teams have identified traces of ammonium-nitrate fuel-oil mixture and possibly RDX in the device. DNA evidence and technology logs have pointed to Dr Umar Un Nabi, a Faridabad-based professor of chemistry employed at Al-Falah University, as the driver of the vehicle.
Sources within the probe say that the National Investigation Agency has gone beyond local policing and has served notice to Al-Falah University seeking records from 2019 onwards relating to hostel admissions, faculty hires, salary disbursements, bank transactions, foreign scholarships and student identity verification. Investigators allege that certain hostel blocks on the university campus housed students from Jammu & Kashmir, with fees paid through shady accounts; some rooms may have been allotted under fictitious names, potentially facilitating non-students to stay on campus. Authorities have seized hundreds of physical and digital records including attendance registers, computer logs, finance ledgers and hostel registers during their raids. Two hostel rooms and a laboratory used by the accused Dr Umar Un Nabi and his colleague Dr Muzammil Ganaie have been sealed.
In parallel, the university has drawn regulatory action. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council has issued a show-cause notice over the university’s website falsely claiming accreditation. At the same time the Association of Indian Universities has suspended the university’s membership, citing its failure to maintain “good standing” under its own by-laws. Prosecutors say that the institution’s credibility has been deeply undermined.
Financial investigators from the Enforcement Directorate are now probing whether funds or grants meant for education or research were diverted or repurposed to support extremist activity. They are scrutinising payment gateways, scholarship disbursements, foreign exchange inflows and internal trust transfers. The university’s legal counsel has asserted full cooperation but denied awareness of the accused doctors’ activities beyond their legitimate roles.
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