New Delhi: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has summoned Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, Al Falah University chairman and founder, in connection with alleged fraud and irregularities flagged by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The action comes in the wake of the November 10 blast outside Red Fort.
According to sources, Siddiqui has been asked to appear before the Crime Branch carrying records on accreditation and funding of the Al Falah Charitable Trust. The trust runs nine organisations, among them the Al Falah Medical Research Foundation, employer of blast accused Umar Nabi and Muzammil Ganai. The notice was issued under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act, which deals with the Commission’s powers and functions.
The Crime Branch has filed two FIRs after the NAAC served notice to the university, stating its accreditation had lapsed and seeking an explanation on why legal action should not follow. Al Falah’s membership in the Association of Indian Universities has been suspended over concerns about its “good standing,” with AIU directing that its name and logo be withdrawn from all platforms.
Investigations by the Inter-State Cell (ISC) revealed that planning for the terror attack was carried out on the Al Falah campus. A day after Jammu and Kashmir Police recovered 2,900 kg of explosives in Faridabad, Umar fled with an explosives-laden car to Nuh before returning to Delhi, where the vehicle exploded near Red Fort, killing at least 10 people.
Siddiqui, originally from Madhya Pradesh and a graduate of Indore’s Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, established the Al Falah Trust after serving as director of Al Falah Investment Company in 1992. The trust later expanded into education, software, financial services and energy, though most ventures were eventually shut down.
The Al Falah Medical Research Foundation, now central to the probe, operates on the university’s 70-acre campus in Dhauj village, Faridabad, with its headquarters in Delhi’s Okhla also searched by police.
Officials noted Siddiqui had previously been booked in an alleged investment fraud case in 2000, arrested in 2001, and granted bail in 2004 on the condition of refunding investors. The Crime Branch is expected to review these earlier allegations as part of its ongoing investigation.
(Inputs from IANS)