‘9 shell companies, 25 premises’—ED crackdown on Al-Falah university, week after Delhi blast

Operation is part of an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities, use of shell companies, accommodation entities and money laundering.

Security officials at the site after Enforcement Directorate conducts a search at the Delhi office of Al Falah University in Okhla on Tuesday | PTI

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday carried out raids at Faridabad’s Al-Falah University, which has allegedly emerged as an epicentre of a terror module that carried out a blast in the national capital last Monday, sources told ThePrint.

The agency’s action also covers the Al-Falah charitable trust and its trustee Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, who is the founder of the university running a medical college where doctors accused of running terror modules were employed. Umar un Nabi, the alleged bomber from Kashmir, was among this group of doctors.

“In a coordinated enforcement operation at 5:15 am, officials executed search actions at over 25 premises connected to the Al-Falah group, in Delhi NCR. The operation forms part of an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities, use of shell companies, accommodation entities and money laundering,” an ED source said.

The role of Al-Falah Trust and related entities was under investigation, the source said, adding that Nine shell companies linked to the group, all registered at a single address, were under scanner.

“Prima facie discrepancies have been noted in claims regarding University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) recognition,” the source added.

The agency’s probe stems from the FIRs filed by the Delhi Police under sections of cheating and forgery, which were flagged by the NAAC. The Council issued a show-cause notice last week to Al-Falah University for displaying false accreditation on its website. This, the Council said, was “misleading” and against its norms.

The Centre had asked the ED to assess and analyze the structure of funding of the university and its affiliated colleges following which it registered a case to initiate a formal probe.

Preliminary findings by the state police forces have suggested that a conspiracy for making an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as well as to carry out an attack was hatched at the premises of the Al Falah School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre.

ThePrint had reported that Al-Falah Charitable Trust trustee Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui and his brother Hamood Sidiqqui have long been accused of financial misappropriation and fraud in the name of investment. The Indore Rural District police arrested his brother Hamood in Hyderabad on Sunday.

This is a developing story.

(Edited by Tony Rai)