Red Fort blast: Al Falah’s chairman summoned amid BIG revelations, functioning after membership suspended; know 5 key factors

As part of the ongoing probe into Faridabad’s Al Falah University in connection with the Red Fort blast in Delhi on November 10, the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has summoned the chairman and founder of Al Falah University, Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, relating to alleged fraud and irregularities noted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). 

According to the sources, Siddiqui has been summoned with documents regarding the accreditation and funding of the Al Falah Charitable Trust, which operated nine organisations under it including the Al Falah Medical Research Foundation where accused Umar Nabi and Muzammil Ganai were employed.  

“He (Siddiqui) has been asked to submit documents relating to his firm, the trust, and all records concerning the university’s accreditation under the UGC. The notice has been issued under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act,” an officer said. 

What has investigation into the University revealed? 

Authorities have taken big actions against Al Falah University in the recent past and after the Delhi blast incident. Due to its illegal activities and suspicious functioning, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has suspended Al Falah’s membership after it found out lack of “good standing” on part of its functioning. The AIU also asked the university to quickly remove the AIU name and logo from all its platforms. 

Taking action against it, NAAC issued notice to the university citing the expired accreditation and asked to give it reason as to why legal action should not be taken. The Crime Branch has filed two different FIRs.  

As the University has come under the spotlight, the Inter-State Cell (ISC) of the Crime Branch has been investigating the alleged irregularities and fraudulent activities on the Al Falah campus. They have found that Umar and Muzammil prepared the execution for the terror attack on its campus.   

In the new development in its ongoing probe, The Crime Branch team arrived at the university campus and conducted inquiries related to the case. Intelligence agencies uncovered a Rs 20 lakh fund trail linked to three doctors, Umar, Muzammil, and Shaheen. Intelligence sources on Sunday said that the amount is suspected to have been routed by a Jaish-e-Mohammed handler through a hawala network. 

Of this, around Rs 3 lakh is believed to have been spent on purchasing 26 quintals of NPK fertiliser, a nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium-based chemical compound used in agriculture, which is also capable of producing explosives used in the blast.