Explosives, rifles and a car bomb: Red Fort blast trail uncovers terror web inside Faridabad’s Al-Falah University, 45km from Delhi

FARIDABAD: The identification of Umar Un Nabi as the driver of the i20 car that exploded in Delhi on Monday evening - killing nine persons - has established a direct link to the network of radicalised doctors that has been unravelling over the past few weeks in J&K, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

All roads in the blast investigation now lead to Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where Nabi and two others allegedly involved in the plot - Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie and Shaheen Shahid - were colleagues, doctors who taught MBBS programmes. Apart from them, police are also probing the role of Mohd Istaq, a cleric at a mosque on the university campus.





The investigation began to take shape when Muzammil was arrested by a team of J&K police on Oct 30. Muzammil (35) managed the emergency wing of the university hospital and had been teaching MBBS students at Al-Falah for over three years now. Following his arrest, police recovered nearly 2,900kg of explosive and flammable substances, a Krinkov assault rifle with three magazines, 83 live cartridges, a pistol with eight live rounds, two empty cartridges, two additional magazines, 12 suitcases and a bucket filled with explosive material, 20 timers, four batteries, remotes and a walkie-talkie set from two rooms he had taken on rent recently.

While Muzammil stayed on the Al-Falah campus, the explosives were found in two villages - Dauj and Dehar Colony in Fatehpur Taga - both located near the university.

Cops launch massive search, combing operations at univ and nearby areas

The plot thickened when police discovered that Muzammil was using a Swift Dzire registered in the name of Shaheen. According to investigators, Shaheen - a doctor from Lucknow and purported girlfriend of Muzammil - also taught MBBS students at Al-Falah. While in Lucknow, she was taken into custody by J&K police after an assault rifle was recovered from her car in Faridabad, which, according to police, had been placed there by Muzammil himself. Police sources said Shaheen was also an active part of the terror module.

The third doctor, Umar Un Nabi, was allegedly seen driving the i20 that went off near Red Fort on Monday evening. Like the others, Nabi, too, had been teaching MBBS students at Al-Falah for the past three years. The university itself boasts a faculty of around 250 for MBBS, pharmacy and paramedical courses.

Also under police scanner, Mohd Istaq is a cleric at the mosque where the university community - teaching and non-teaching staff and students - regularly gathered. From Sringar village of Nuh, Istaq has been associated with the mosque since 2006. He earns a modest salary of Rs 6,000 a month and lives in a small room behind the mosque with his wife, four children and cattle.

Recently, Istaq built a single-storey house in Dehar Colony, 4km from the Al-Falah campus. Of the four rooms in the house, two were leased to the family of a disabled truck cleaner, one was rented to Muzammil for Rs 1,500 a month, and a fourth remained vacant. It was in this room rented by Muzammil that 358kg of ammonium nitrate was found stored on Saturday.

In the wake of these revelations, Faridabad police on Tuesday launched a massive search and combing operation at the university and surrounding areas. More than 800 cops, divided into six teams led by ACP-rank officers, conducted intensive searches in the area.

According to a senior police officer, around 70 people were detained briefly for questioning. Faculty members and students who had close contact with the three doctors, as well as those from the same region as Muzammil, were interrogated. Police also questioned residents in Dhauj village, Dehar Colony and nearby areas, and are currently reviewing CCTV footage from around the university to track the movements of Muzammil and others who may have visited the two rented rooms under scrutiny.

Yashpal, a spokesperson for Faridabad police, confirmed the scale of the operation. "The FIR had been registered in J&K. It was only then that Muzammil was arrested, and the recovery of explosives and weapons were made from Faridabad. No FIR in connection with this case has been registered in Faridabad so far," he said.

Many students and staff struggled to come to terms with the news that their campus had become the centre of a major terror investigation. "We never imagined something like this could happen here. The university always prided itself on academic excellence and inclusivity. This has shaken us to the core," a faculty member said.