Red Fort blast trail leads to Al-Falah University, which employed doctors of doom

A dusty, narrow road with vast expanses of agricultural land on both sides leads to Haryana's Al-Falah University, spread over 70 acres of lush greenery around the foothills of Aravali. It is inside this university, located just 30 km from the capital, that a "white-collar" terror network — a group of radicalised medical professionals — was plotting a major carnage. While meticulous police work likely saved Delhi from a major massacre, one of the doctors managed to detonate a car near the Red Fort, killing 10 people.

Ever since the links surfaced between the Red Fort blast prime suspect, Dr Umar Nabi and Al-Falah University, the university in Faridabad's Dhauj village has been in the line of vision of television cameras. A strange silence pervades the campus as police teams and investigating agencies visit the university to conduct inquiries. Over 50 employees and doctors have been questioned so far.

Besides Dr Umar, two of his associates, Dr Muzammil Shakeel and Dr Shaheen Shahid, suspected of being part of the terror module comprising JeM and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, were employed with the university. If the Delhi Police version is true, the arrest of Dr Shakeel, from whose premises 2,900 kilograms of IED-making material was recovered, led a panicked Dr Umar to execute the blast in haste.

The role of Dr Shaheen has come under scrutiny. Sources said that she was entrusted with establishing the women's wing of JaisheMohammed in India. Besides, rifles and ammunition were also recovered from her car. In all, about six people from the varsity have been detained.

AL-FALAH UNIVERSITY UNDER LENS

It is now a focal point of investigation for a university that started in 1997 as an engineering college.

In 2013, the Al-Falah Engineering College got 'A' category accreditation from the NAAC, which is an autonomous body under the Union Education Ministry. A report, however, said that the accreditation had expired years ago.

A year later, the university status was granted through the Haryana Private Universities Act by the government. After that, it got recognition from UGC a year more in 2015.

Al-Falah Medical College, also a part of the university, is run by Al-Falah Charitable Trust with registration in Okhla, Delhi.

Prof. Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui is the chairman of the trust and also the chancellor of the university since 2014. He has also been managing director of Al-Falah Investments Limited since 1996.

A 2000 report in The Milli Gazette reported that Siddiqui was arrested for collecting billions of rupees by fraudulent means in Delhi. Nothing much is known about him.

The present vice chancellor is Dr. Bhupinder Kaur Anand who is also the principal of the medical college.

While the institution is run by a charitable trust, a report in TOI said donations also come from Arab countries.

Al-Falah University was established with an aim to cater to the education needs of students hailing from the minority and underprivileged segments. In fact, during its initial days, the varsity had positioned itself as an alternative to the famed Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia.

It also runs a small hospital of about 700 beds, where the doctors provide free treatment to the patients. Currently, about 40 percent of the doctors are from Kashmir. It also attracts students from Haryana's Mewat region (Nuh) and Bihar. The university charges around Rs 16 lakh annually for MBBS courses. RECRUITMENT PROCESS UNDER SCANNER The hiring is done by the university headquarters itself at Jamia Nagar, Okhla, Delhi, and looked after by the chancellor and his associates. Only administrative work and documentation is done here. With six of its employees under the terror scanner, recruitment and verification policies of the university have come under question. Most intriguing, however, is the recruitment of Dr Umar Nabi who was driving the car when it blew up near Red Fort. Dr Umar had earlier been employed at the Government Medical College, Anantnag, but was removed from service after a patient died because of his negligence. Even fellow doctors, staff and patients complained of his rude behaviour and his inattive nature. He would often be absent from the hospital for days. After his expulsion, Dr Umar joined Al-Falah in 2023. BREAKING THE SILENCE - UNIVERSITY It remains a mystery if Al-Falah authorities did a background verification of Dr Umar's past conduct. He has proved to be a bad hire who has now affected the image of Al-Falah University. Until Wednesday, two days after the blast, the university had kept silent, opting not to react to allegations of institutional complicity. In a statement, the university administration claimed that only two of its doctors were detained. "The university has no connection with the said persons apart from their official duties," the statement said. It further said that no unauthorized materials or chemicals were ever used or stored in the university's laboratories.