Delhi Blast Case: Investigation Intensifies, 48 Al-Falah University Staff Face Increased Scrutiny

It has been quite some time since the terrorist blast outside the Red Fort. Now, the biggest focus in the investigation of this case is on Al-Falah University located in Faridabad. Three members of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist module who were arrested used to work at this university. Apart from the main accused Umar Nabi, two other members of this module are:

• Dr. Muzammil Ghani (Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir)
• Dr. Shaheen Shahid Ansari (Lucknow)

Some time ago, the NIA arrested Soayb, a ward boy at the university. He is accused of providing logistic support to Umar Nabi before the attack.

What has happened so far?

• Interrogation of 48 staff members of the university (including about 30 doctors) has been completed.
• Two hostel rooms of Umar Nabi and Muzammil Ghani have been sealed.
• Hundreds of kilograms of explosive material were recovered from a rented house outside the university.
• Umar Nabi's mobile phone was recovered from a drain in Pulwama, which contained details of contacts with several people from the university.
• The Delhi Police Special Cell has obtained Umar's call detail records.

Where has the investigation reached now?

Investigating agencies are now searching for Umar Khalid's potential network from Al-Falah University. Under this, strict instructions have been given to all private hospitals in Delhi to immediately provide a complete list and full records of doctors practicing in Delhi who have obtained MBBS degrees from Bangladesh, Pakistan, UAE, and China. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they suspect Umar's network is much more extensive than the university and efforts are being made to fully map the professional network in the initial stages of the investigation.

The University's Stance

Al-Falah University had earlier issued a statement saying that the arrested individuals had no connection with the institution, other than the fact that they were employed there. The university had termed some media reports as baseless and defamatory. The investigation is still ongoing. More staff members will be interrogated in the coming weeks. CCTV footage from the campus is also being closely scrutinised.