Exclusive | In Al Falah probe report, police cite former students: ‘Misled by university’

Of the two charge sheets against the university, sources said one pertains to the alleged claim of NAAC accreditation and the other to purported misrepresentation of qualifications under Section 12(b) of the University Grants Commission Act. Section 12(b) enables the UGC to provide Central grants to accredited universities.

Police have also submitted that the NAAC accreditation of Al-Falah’s B.Ed degree college expired in 2016 and of its engineering college in 2019, sources said. They have also placed on record detailed replies of the UGC in this regard, they said. “Among the evidence included is how the university lured students through its official website by claiming accreditation even after its expiration,” sources said.

All those named as prosecution witnesses in the case are students who enrolled in the university after 2016, following the expiry of its accreditation, sources said.

“In their statements, students have said that NAAC accreditation was a decisive factor in their choice to enrol, viewing it as a crucial benchmark for future employment. They believed it would significantly enhance their job prospects after graduation. However, some now say they have been effectively pushed out of the job market, as their degrees come from a university that falsely claimed NAAC accreditation,” sources said.

Al Falah founder Siddiqui was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 18 last year on the charge of money laundering. The ED later told a Delhi court that Al-Falah University had generated proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 415 crore by dishonestly inducing students to enrol using false claims. In January, the ED attached immovable properties worth Rs 139.97 crore belonging to the university.

According to police, Umar Nabi led the terror module, which also included at least two other Al-Falah staff members, identified as doctors Shaheen Ansari and Muzammil Ganai. Ganai was arrested on October 30 last year with police claiming to have recovered 350 kg of explosive material from his rented residence in Faridabad. Later, Ansari was also taken into custody.

So far, 11 accused have been arrested for their alleged roles in the blast that shook the national capital on November 10. On Monday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at nine locations in Jammu and Kashmir as part of its continuing investigation in the blast case.