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Delhi blast investigation puts spotlight on Al Falah University management, director Javed Ahmed Siddiqui's past arrest
The agencies probing the blast have now widened their investigation to include Al Falah University, with a focus back on director Javed Ahmed Siddiqui.
The Al Falah University has been in the spotlight since the “white collar” terror module was busted earlier this week. The focus became even more intense after the same module was linked to the Delhi Red Fort car blast on Monday evening.
At least 10 people have died, with several others sustaining injuries, after a high-intensity blast in a white i20 tore through vehicles at a busy intersection near the Lal Quila Metro Station.
Al Falah University is now firmly under the radar of investigating agencies, as the Delhi blast prime suspect, Dr Umar Nabi and most of the terror module busted before that, is connected to the institution situated on Faridabad's Dhauj road.
Who runs Al Falah University?
The management and the financial practices of Al-Falah University are being carefully scrutinised by the agencies.
According to Delhi Police officials, the university’s director, 61-year-old Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, is linked to nine other institutions and companies. He has long been associated with the Al-Falah group.
Siddiqui was previously arrested in a cheating case in 2000 for allegedly misappropriating ₹7.5 crore from investors through fake investment firms. According to the police, Siddiqui was accused of luring investors into shell companies under the Al-Falah banner, including Al-Falah Education Service, Al-Falah Investment Ltd., and Al-Falah Exports, all of which were registered at a common Okhla address. He was jailed for three years before being acquitted in 2005.
NIA and Delhi Police teams raided the Group’s Okhla premises on Thursday and seized land documents and financial files.
“We are examining whether any of the old firms or trust accounts were used to route money linked to the accused doctors,” an officer said.
A legal advisor at the Okhla office, Mohammad Raazi, told HT: “We had no idea of the doctors’ activities. Our campus was never used for any funding or experiment linked to terror. The police have taken documents, and we are fully cooperating.”
