Room 13 in Al-Falah Medical College key to Delhi Red Fort blast case

Police believe the accused held meetings and stored blueprints in Room 13, using the campus as a planning hub for the Delhi-NCR terror network.

Room 13 in Building 17 of Al-Falah Medical College in Faridabad has become central to investigations into the Red Fort blast and the recovery of nearly 2,900 kilograms of explosive material from Faridabad’s Dhauj and Fatehpur Taga villages.

Forensic tests found preliminary traces of ammonium nitrate-based compounds in the college lab, confirming on-site experimentation. (PTI)

The room, occupied by Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaia from Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, is suspected to have been used for planning and coordination by the alleged terror module, investigators said. Police believe the suspects — including faculty member Umar Un Nabi, the man purportedly behind the wheels of the car that exploded, and Dr Shaheen Shahid, a doctor from Lucknow — used the room to plot logistics and transport routes for ammonium nitrate intended for multiple blasts across the Delhi-NCR region. Follow Delhi Red Fort car blast case live updates

The investigation has thrust Al-Falah Medical College — a 72-acre campus in Faridabad established in 2014 to a self-described mission to provide affordable medical education to students from underprivileged backgrounds — into the centre of one of India’s largest terror probes in years.

What was founded as an institution serving minorities and rural students, drawing hundreds from Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, is now being called the “Faridabad node” of a wider terror network. The Hyundai i20 that exploded near Red Fort was parked inside the campus for nearly 20 days, police said.

“The door of Room 13 was always closed. We often saw unknown people entering late at night or early in the morning,” said a student living two doors away. “Unlike other students who kept their rooms open, this one always had visitors, but no one ever spoke much.”

ACP (Crime) Varun Dahiya said the medical campus had been used as a base by the suspects. “Building 17 was their command post,” he said. “Room 13 became their planning base — they used it for meetings, coordination and possibly to store digital data and blueprints for their operation.”

“We are not ruling out more connections within the campus,” said ACP Dahiya. “Our suspicion is that others may have assisted them — even unknowingly.”

Forensic experts have collected samples of residue, fingerprints and digital evidence from Room 13.

Police officials said forensic teams have also collected chemical samples, residues and glassware from a laboratory at the Al-Falah Medical College. The lab, located adjacent to the main hospital building, has been sealed, and all chemical containers, solvents and reagents used for academic experiments have been taken into custody for verification.

Investigators suspect the accused doctors may have sourced small quantities of chemicals such as ammonium compounds and oxidisers from the college’s biochemistry and pathology labs over several weeks. These materials, officials believe, were later combined and stored in rented rooms in Dhauj and Fatehpur Taga, where police subsequently recovered nearly 2,900 kilograms of explosive and inflammable substances.

“The college lab has been sealed and scanned. Forensic teams have lifted samples of chemicals, glassware and beakers for testing,” said a senior officer. “We are checking whether any experiments related to explosive compounds were conducted here.”

Traces of substances that match “preliminary indicators of ammonium nitrate-based compounds have been found,” the officer added. “We suspect the accused tested chemical reactions in controlled amounts before scaling up their operation outside the campus.”

The forensic samples have been sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Madhuban for detailed analysis, which will help determine whether the chemicals used to make explosives were taken from the college’s stock. “We are verifying if the accused diverted any materials from the college lab inventory for assembling explosive components. The findings of the forensic report will be crucial to establishing this link,” said ACP Dahiya.

Repeated attempts to contact Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, chairman of the Al-Falah Charitable Trust that runs the university, went unanswered. The institution has not issued any official statement on the investigation, though police said multiple notices have been sent seeking clarification about faculty records, hostel logs and lab access permissions.

A senior Faridabad police official confirmed security has been tightened around the campus, with teams stationed at every gate and surveillance cameras monitored round the clock. “The focus is on ensuring that evidence isn’t tampered with and no suspect escapes scrutiny,” the officer said.

Building 17, where Muzammil stayed, has been sealed off completely, with every room checked for hidden storage, digital traces and communication devices. The college’s 900-bed hospital, which provides affordable healthcare, now has police vehicles lining its main road and forensic vans moving in and out as evidence is collected, according to officials and residents.

“Building 17 was the busiest hostel, but no one suspected that one of its rooms was being used for something like this,” said a resident doctor. “Muzammil was polite and quiet. He studied a lot, but there was always a sense that something was different about him. He had few friends but a lot of visitors.”

Students divided over allegations

The arrests have divided students on campus. “This college gave us an opportunity to become doctors. It’s heartbreaking to see it in the news like this,” said Mohammad Saif, a third-year student. “We should not blame the entire institution for the mistakes of a few.”

Ayesha Fatima, a final-year student, added: “Dr Muzammil was very quiet, but I never saw anything strange about him. The faculty is excellent. It’s unimaginable that anyone from here could be linked to terror.”

However, other students expressed concerns. “There’s something deeply wrong here,” said one student, requesting anonymity. “Admissions happen through sources. Many people who get in are not qualified to be doctors. The CBI should investigate the entire admission and recruitment process.”

Another student said the “closed-room culture” at the hostels has been known on campus. “Some students stayed cut off, didn’t mingle and held meetings behind locked doors. We thought they were study groups. Now we wonder what they were really doing.”

Investigators believe the ammonium nitrate recovered from Faridabad was intended for large-scale coordinated blasts across northern India. “The raids disrupted their plan. Their logistical chain was broken,” said a senior officer from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who has been coordinating with teams in Faridabad.

According to officials, the suspects’ digital footprint reveals encrypted communication, coded references to “shipments” and “packages”, and contact with foreign-based handlers.

The Al-Falah Charitable Trust, which manages the university, was founded in 1995. In 2013, the university’s engineering wing received an ‘A’ grade from NAAC, and a year later, the Haryana government granted it university status. The institution was often positioned as an alternative to Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia.

Several attempts to reach the college’s management for comment remained unsuccessful.