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Regulator tracking Delhi blast probe as Al Falah college emerges at its centre
Officials said the National Medical Commission (NMC) has not sent any communication to the college so far and will take action based on the findings of the probe agencies
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The medical education regulator is tracking the investigation into the recovery of ammonium nitrate, other explosive material, and firearms in Faridabad and the Delhi car blast, as Al Falah Medical College has emerged at the centre of the probe into them, officials said on Wednesday.
Umar Un Nabi, a college faculty member, was purportedly behind the wheel of the car that exploded. Room 13 in the college’s building 17 has become central to investigations into the blast and the recovery of explosives from Faridabad’s Dhauj and Fatehpur Taga villages.
Muzammil Ahmad Ganaia from Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama occupied the room. Police believe the suspects used the room to plot logistics and transport routes for ammonium nitrate intended for multiple blasts.
Officials said the National Medical Commission (NMC), the regulator, has not sent any communication to the college so far and will take action based on the findings of the probe agencies.
“The matter is currently under investigation. As the medical regulatory authority, the NMC will take appropriate action in accordance with statutory regulations once the findings of the investigating agencies are received,” said an NMC official, who did not want to be named.
The medical college, under Al Falah University, got NMC’s approval to admit the first batch of MBBS students in 2019.
Al Falah University vice chancellor Bhupinder Kaur said that the institution has no connection to the doctors arrested in connection with the terror module busted in Faridabad and the Delhi blast “apart from them working in their official capacity”. Kaur referred to ammonium nitrate recovered from the accused and said that no such chemicals are stored on the campus. She said the university was extending support to the security agencies in the probe.
NAAC officials questioned the claims on Al Falah University’s website that its engineering and education schools had the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)’s approval. They said the accreditation has expired.
The official clarified that the university was never accredited and that its engineering college received an A grade in 2013 and its teacher education school in 2011. Both of them have since lapsed, as accreditation is valid for five years. “We will write to the university asking them to correct the information on their website, as it is against our norms. We are not a statutory body, and hence we cannot take any action against them. We will also write to the UGC [University Grants Commission] to seek action against the university for wrong information on their website,” another NAAC official said.
Neither UGC nor Al Falah University officials responded to HT’s queries for a comment on NAAC accreditation.
