Terror trail leads to Al Falah University; ex-student linked to 2008 IM attack

An ongoing investigation has found that Al Falah University, which is now under scrutiny after the unearthing of a “white-collar terror module” and the recent blast near the Red Fort, had long-standing links with terror operatives, sources said on Friday. 

According to officials, fugitive Indian Mujahideen (IM) bomber Mirza Shadab Baig, wanted for multiple blasts in 2008, was a former student of the Faridabad-based institution. Reportedly, several doctors associated with the university have already been arrested in connection with the Delhi blast case. 

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Baig, accused in the Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Gorakhpur explosions, completed his B.Tech in electronics and instrumentation from the university in 2007. He went missing soon after, travelling on his genuine passport, and has not been traced since September 19, 2008, the day of the Batla House encounter. 

Agencies believe that Baig, reportedly a resident of Raja Ka Qila Mohalla in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, later lived in Saudi Arabia and was last tracked to Afghanistan in 2019. 

Meanwhile, a Punjab Police team has questioned staff and students at the campus regarding a 45-year-old doctor detained recently from Pathankot. The doctor, who earlier taught at Al Falah University for four years, maintained contact with former colleagues, including Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who drove the explosives-laden i20 that detonated outside the Red Fort. 

On Thursday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took custody of three doctors: Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and Shaheena Saeed, along with preacher Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay, who was all previously arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police as per reports. A cab driver linked to the case is also being questioned, with officers recovering electronic devices from his home, allegedly kept by Ganaie. 

Investigators are trying to identify where the refined explosives found in Ganaie’s room were manufactured.