Faridabad: Al-Falah University and its sprawling 76-acre campus in the Muslim-majority Dhauj village of Haryana’s Faridabad district have come under the scanner following the arrest of three doctors linked to a “white-collar terror module” and the high-intensity blast near Delhi’s Red Fort.
Investigators are now probing how the university allegedly became a safe haven for individuals “acting at the behest of Pakistan-backed handlers,” despite its reputation as an academic institution.
According to its official website, Al-Falah University was established under the Haryana Private Universities Act by the Haryana Legislative Assembly. The institution began as an engineering college in 1997 and received an ‘A’ grade accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2013. It was granted university status by the state government in 2014, and its medical college is also affiliated with it.
In its formative years, experts say, Al-Falah University emerged as an alternative to Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia for minority students seeking higher education. Located just 30 kilometres from Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, the university is managed by the Al-Falah Charitable Trust, founded in 1995.
The trust is chaired by Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, with Mufti Abdullah Qasimi M.A. serving as vice-chairman and Mohammad Wajid DME as secretary. The current registrar is Prof. (Dr) Mohammad Parvez, and Dr. Bhupinder Kaur Anand serves as the Vice-Chancellor.
The university operates three main colleges — the Al-Falah School of Engineering and Technology, Brown Hill College of Engineering and Technology, and the Al-Falah School of Education and Training. It also runs a 650-bed hospital where doctors reportedly provide free medical services.
Police teams carried out extensive inspections at the university on Tuesday, questioning several individuals.
The development comes a day after a powerful explosion tore through an explosive-laden car near Delhi’s Red Fort metro station, killing 12 people and injuring several others. Pulwama-based Dr. Mohammad Umar Nabi, suspected to have been driving the Hyundai i20 that exploded, was serving as an assistant professor at Al-Falah University.
The blast occurred just hours after authorities arrested eight people — including three doctors associated with the university — and seized 2,900 kilograms of explosives, exposing a “white-collar terror module” linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Among those arrested was Dr. Muzammil Ganaie, a faculty member at Al-Falah University.
