Delhi car blast case: ED raids Al-Falah University in Faridabad & related persons

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted raids at the office of the Al-Falah University, along with its trustees and other related persons/entities, on Tuesday, as a part of the investigation into the "terror module" linked with the Red Fort blast. This comes days after at least three doctors associated with the institution were arrested, allegedly being active members of the module. 

Umar un Nabi, who was the driver of the vehicle carrying the Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which exploded near the Red Fort on November 10, was an assistant professor in the General Medicine Department of Al-Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana. He hails from Pulwama. 

Media sources in the ED said, "In a coordinated enforcement operation at 5:15 am today, officials executed search actions at over 25 locations connected to the Al-Falah group, in and around Delhi. The operation forms part of an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities, use of shell companies, accommodation entities, and money laundering", the Hindu reported. 

Adding, "The role of Al-Falah Trust and related entities is under investigation. Key personnel overseeing finance and administration have also been covered. Nine shell companies linked to the group, all registered at a single address, are under examination." 

Early findings by the ED highlight multiple risk indicators that are consistent with shell-company behaviour, which include: no physical presence or meaningful utility consumption at the places declared for business, with a common mobile number and email operating across various companies and accounts. 

Some other indicators are: 

• Absence of EPFO and ESIC filings, which shows inconsistency with the reported scale of operations

• A weak KYC trail over existing business entities and overlapping directors and signatories

• Absence of HR records

• Negligible or minimal salary disbursal 

• Incorporation patterns are well synchronised, and a common contact across all firms manages coordination 

Moreover, there are prima facie discrepancies in claims made over the university's UGC and NAAC accreditation. All aspects are being looked over in this matter by the concerned authorities. NIA is also working in close coordination with the police of Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.  

This week, two more persons were arrested by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) in connection with the car blast case. One of the accused, Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish, who is a resident of Qasigund (Anantnag), was arrested in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He was allegedly providing technical support to the other aides before the explosion by modifying drones and trying to make rockets. NIA has stated that Danish was a co-conspirator and was closely working with Umar un Nabi to plan the terror attack. 

Another accused, Rashid Ali, was arrested in Delhi as the car involved in the blast was registered in his name. He belongs to J&K's Pampora and went to Delhi to facilitate the purchase of the car, which was used as a vehicle-borne IED to cause the explosion. 

Earlier, around 2,900 kg of explosives, with ammonium nitrate, and some other weapons and detonators were seized by the authorities from Faridabad. All of this is a part of the interstate "white collar" terror module, which is connected to Jaish-e-Muhammad and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. 

Among those arrested, there are three doctors - Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, Adeel Ahmad Rather, and Shaheen Saeed. Ganaie and Saeed were associated with the Al-Falah University, along with Nabi.