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Almost three weeks after the blast outside the Red Fort in the national capital, investigators have intensified their scrutiny of Faridabad’s Al Falah University, where three of the accused were employed. Officials familiar with the probe told The Indian Express that 48 staff members, including about 30 doctors, have been questioned as agencies attempt to reconstruct Red Fort bomber Umar Nabi’s movements and interactions in the days leading up to the blast.
Apart from Nabi, two other members of the now-busted Jaish-e-Mohammed terror module — Pahalgam resident Dr Muzammil Ganai and Lucknow resident Dr Shaheen Shahid Ansari — were working at Al Falah. The other members of the module, who have also been arrested, are Dr Adeel Rather, who was employed at a private hospital in Saharampur, and Kashmir cleric Mufti Irfan Wagay.
On Wednesday, the National Investigation Agency arrested a ward boy employed at Al Falah University, identified as Soyab, for allegedly providing logistical support to Umar before the attack.
Simultaneously, the investigation has expanded beyond the campus. According to highly placed sources, security agencies have instructed private hospitals across Delhi to provide records identifying doctors who earned MBBS degrees in Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, China or Pakistan and are currently practising in the city.
The request, sources said, is part of a broader effort to map professional networks that could reveal connections relevant to the case. “We suspect Umar’s network extended beyond Al Falah,” one official said, while simultaneously cautioning, “This is still at a very preliminary stage.”
A breakthrough, sources said, came with the recovery of Umar’s mobile phone, which Jammu and Kashmir Police found in a drain in Pulwama. The device has provided investigators with information about individuals at the university with whom he was in touch, officials said. The Delhi Police Special Cell, which has opened a separate case to examine what it calls a “deeper conspiracy” behind the blast, now has access to the call detail records, sources said.
“Based on the records, agencies have summoned some staffers at the university to understand the nature of their interactions with Umar, and to get a clearer picture of his conduct and behaviour,” an official said. Al Falah has, in the past, said it has “no connection with the said persons (terror module members) apart from them being working in their official capacities with the University”, and described reports linking it to the case as “baseless and defamatory”.
Investigators are also reviewing CCTV footage procured from the campus, sources said, adding that the questioning of staff is expected to continue for the coming weeks. “Some employees were questioned on campus, others at their home, and some were called to agency offices,” a person familiar with the investigation said.
Their testimonies painted the portrait of a man who was withdrawn, erratic and difficult to read, sources said. “Umar was rude, unpredictable and spoke very little,” one official said. “Sometimes he ignored colleagues who greeted him; at other times, he was unexpectedly friendly. Overall, he remained a very mysterious figure.”
At present, authorities have sealed two rooms in Building No. 17 on the university’s boys’ hostel campus, previously occupied by Umar and Ganai. The two also held the keys to a rented room near the university, where investigators had uncovered several hundred kilos of explosive-making materials.
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