Al-Falah University


Al-Falah University is a private university located in Faridabad district of Haryana state of India.

History

The university was established in 2014 by the Al-Falah Charitable Trust, during the Congress rule under Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, through The Haryana Private Universities Act, 2014. The founder and managing trustee of Al-Falah University, Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, is a convicted criminal who was convicted for fraud worth and sentenced to three years in prison. The chancellor allegedly used forged documents — including GPAs of people who had died long before — to illegally acquire land in Delhi. Two top Al-Falah officials were found to have prior links with banned organisations SIMI and Jamaat-e-Islami, according to ED sources. The founder was arrested under PMLA for money laundering, forged documents, and fraud linked to the Red Fort blast probe. Police filed FIRs for multiple IPC sections covering cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and document falsification.

Accreditation

AFU is recognised by the University Grants Commission, NAAC, Association of Indian Universities, National Medical Commission, but since 2025 the university is under investigation or suspension by UGC, NAAC, AIU, NMC, various law enforcement agencies for financial irregularities, fraudulent accreditation, terror links, etc. Al-Falah University allegedly displayed outdated or false NAAC accreditation information on its official website, misleading students and regulators.
The Enforcement Directorate reported that the university collected crores in student fees by misrepresenting its accreditation and recognition status.
Investigators allege the university collected over ₹415 crore between 2018–2025 and diverted these funds via affiliated entities for non-educational purposes.
The ED found that the university, engineering college, training institute, and trust operated under one PAN, making the financial structure opaque.

Alleged Links to Terror Financing / Extremist Organisations

The Enforcement Directorate found “alleged links” of two senior officials of the Al-Falah group with the banned organisations Jamaat-e-Islami and Students Islamic Movement of India. As part of a sweep triggered by the 10 November 2025 car-blast near Red Fort, Delhi, ED conducted coordinated raids at 25+ locations linked to Al-Falah to trace financial records, possible hawala transactions, foreign-fund flows and the “money-trail” of suspected proceeds of crime. The agency uncovered a network of nine shell companies, all registered at the same address, linked to the Al-Falah group. The shell-companies exhibited multiple red-flags: no physical presence at declared business premises, negligible utility usage, common phone number/email across firms, lack of statutory filings, overlapping directors or authorized signatories, weak KYC, minimal salary disbursal through banking channels, and absence of HR or payroll records. These firms are being examined for possible money-laundering and fund-diversion.
According to investigators, some individuals employed at Al-Falah University — including doctors — are among the suspects in the Red Fort blast, and are being probed for alleged participation in a “terror module.”
The ED has arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui — founder-chairman of Al-Falah group — under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, citing allegations of financial irregularities, fund diversion, and possible links to suspected terror-financing.

Schools

The university runs the following schools:

1990s-2000s financial scams: conviction of founder of AFU

Javed Ahmed Siddiqui: Al-Falah founder's serial crimes

Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, the founder and managing trustee of Al-Falah University, became subject to investigation. It included his business network and a previous criminal case in which he was charged with fraud worth and sentenced to three years in prison. After the forensic audit of Al-Falah University's finances by Enforcement Directorate and Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing, Javed Ahmed Siddiqui was not arrested by ED in November for 2025 terror financing, money laundering, hawala, and many other financial irregularities. He is also being investigated for old cases of fraud by him, including the 2000 investment scam for which he was arrested in 2001 and granted bail in 2004, and 1990s fraudulently private bank investment scheme.

Hamood Siddiqui: Al-Falah founder's co-conspirator brother's crimes

On 17 November 2025, Madhya Pradesh Police detained Javed Ahmed Siddiqui's brother, Hamood Ahmed Siddiqui, in relation to a financial crime in Mhow. After allegedly setting up a fake private bank and enticing hundreds of locals with promises of doubling their investments, he disappeared from Mhow in 2000. When the crime was exposed, he and his family had fled. To determine who helped Hamood, investigators are charting his interactions and travels over time. Javed Ahmed Siddiqui and his brother Hamood Ahmed Siddiqui, are son of qazi Hammad Siddiqui. On 20 November 2025, the Mhow Cantonment Board issued a notice to remove Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui's ancestral property, claiming that it was an unlawful development built on Ministry of Defence property.

2008-2010: serial bombings

As per reports, investigators found a connection between the 2025 Delhi car explosion and Mirza Shadab Baig, a former student at Al-Falah University who had previously been linked to terrorist activities in India. He participated in the 2008 Delhi bombings, 2008 Ahmedabad bombings, Jaipur bombings, 2010 Pune bombing and is a member of the Indian Mujahideen. Investigators have access to his university identity card. He earned a B.Tech. in Electronics Instrumentation from Al-Falah University in 2007. Baig left India after the 2008 Delhi explosions and is currently under Interpol's Red Corner Notice. He was instrumental in the recruiting, indoctrination, and training of the Indian Mujahideen, assisting in the establishment and expansion of terror modules throughout Delhi, Azamgarh, and other areas.

2025 terror-bombing investigation by law enforcement authorities

AFU is under investigation by several law enforcement agencies for the suspected terror-links. The Delhi Police Special Cell filed FIR under the Unlawful Activities Act to investigate the larger scheme behind the explosion, and it was forwarded to the National Investigation Agency. In October–November 2025, the university came under scrutiny after a joint operation by the Haryana Police and the Jammu and Kashmir Police uncovered a large cache of explosives and arms from rented accommodation in Dhauj village, Faridabad. The accommodation had reportedly been used by a faculty member of the university. According to police statements, a total of approximately three tonnes of explosive material of which of ammonium nitrate were recovered in multiple raids, along with assault rifles, live ammunition, timers, walkie-talkies, and bomb-making equipment. Investigations suggest links to the proscribed militant organisations Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, and indicate a “white-collar terror ecosystem” involving radicalised professionals and students operating across states. The investigation revealed another batch of around ammonium nitrate in a single-storey house owned by Maulana Mohammed Istaq, a preacher at the campus mosque since 2006, which is 4 km from the university at Fatehpur Taga. University officials have not issued detailed public statements regarding the investigation. The incident triggered heightened scrutiny of private academic institutions in the Delhi–NCR and spurred calls for stronger vetting of academic staff.
The government scrutinized Al-Falah's hiring practices, which are managed by Al-Falah's Okhla office rather than by campus academic committees. Investigators claim that this opaque structure made it possible to appoint a doctor who had been fired by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir due to security concerns to a prominent medical position. Al-Falah University hired Nisar-ul-Hassan, a medical professor who had previously been fired by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on 21 November 2023, in accordance with Article 311 of the Constitution pertaining to state security. Nisar-ul-Hassan claimed to be the president of the Doctors Association Kashmir and was accused of using the group as a front to disseminate secessionist propaganda with the help of Pakistani agents. As authorities look into any connections between a network of doctors and the terror attack, his absence has come under scrutiny. On 13 November 2025, on the campus of Al-Falah University, the Haryana Police Bomb Disposal Squad found a silver Suzuki Brezza that belonged to Dr. Shaheen Shahid, a suspected terrorist who was allegedly tasked with establishing and overseeing JeM's women's wing in India under the banner of Jamat ul-Muminat. The vehicle was one of many that were meant to be used in the terror bombing. CCTV captured the white Hyundai i20 that detonated close to the Red Fort entered Al-Falah University on October 29 and departed the campus at 2:41 p.m. on October 30.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch's Inter-State Cell has been assigned the responsibility of looking into the purported fraud and irregularities at Al-Falah University. Investigations reveal that bomb suspects Umar Nabi and Muzammil Ganai, who worked for the Al Falah Medical Research Foundation, planned the terrorist attack on campus. Officers discovered that the accused communicated via the Signal app. Three months prior to the explosion, they formed a group on Signal to exchange information and provide guidance to one another. Dr. Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, Dr. Adeel Ahmad Rather, Maulvi Irfan Wagay, and Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad Rather were added to the group by Dr. Umar Nabi. Four videos, including one that discussed suicide attack, were taken from Umar Nabi's smartphone after it was seized by investigators. The videos appears to have been taken on the university campus. The AFU faculty denounced the purported terror connections and offered to assist the investigative authorities in a press release on 17 November 2025.
Investigators claim that Dr. Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie bought ammonium nitrate from two authorized fertilizer stores in Sohna between December 2022 and February 2023 which aligned with previous disclosures made during interrogation, and records seizure from shopkeepers. On 27 November 2025, while mapping out Dr. Shaheen Shahid's activities across Al-Falah University campus, to rebuild her daily routine and identify suspected associates, NIA uncovered ₹18 lakh in cash stashed inside an wardrobe in dormitory room number 32. The detectives are tracing the source and trying to ascertain whether it had been channeled through terror network. Searches have also begun to locate anyone who may have assisted the cash transfer.