Rama Krishna Sangem
We wonder why the Enforcement Directorate (ED) hasn’t acted on the alleged financial irregularities all these years, even though there were glaring black spots. The ED started probing the varsity only after the Red Fort car explosion in which some of its members were linked. Isn’t it the responsibility of ED to probe all shady monetary transactions?
The ED is conducting searches at 25 locations in Delhi and Faridabad linked to the terror-tainted Al-Falah University and individuals associated with it in connection with the agency’s probe into the November 10 Red Fort blast. Unfortunately, in our country, investigating agenices like ED swing into action only after something goes wrong or some major crime takes place.
The university was established in 2014 by the Al-Falah Charitable Trust,[2] during the Congress rule under Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, through The Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Act, 2014.The founder and managing trustee of Al-Falah University, Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, is a convicted criminal who was convicted for fraud worth ₹7.5 crore and sentenced to three years in prison
The probe agency has also registered a PMLA case over financial irregularities involving the university, where the Red Fort bomber Dr Umar un Nabi and others accused in the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)-linked “white collar” Faridabad terror module worked, as well as the owners of the institute. The ED is also questioning university chairman Javed Ahmad Siddiqui at his residence.
The raids, which began at around 5 am, are currently underway at the university’s headquarters in Delhi, as well as at the premises of the institute’s trustees. According to sources, the trustees of the university are also being raided.
Delhi police FIRs
The ED action comes days after the Delhi Police registered two separate FIRs against Al-Falah University, whose membership has already been revoked by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) after the connections to the terror module emerged. While one FIR pertains to allegations of cheating, the second has been lodged under sections related to forgery.
On Monday, the police issued two summonses to Javed Ahmad Siddiqui in connection with the FIRs, which were registered based on a complaint by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Investigators said Siddiqui’s statement was crucial to resolving several inconsistencies related to the university’s operations and the activities of individuals associated with it. Meanwhile, the chancellor’s younger brother, Hamood Ahmad Siddiqui, was arrested in Hyderabad on Monday in connection with a nearly 25-year-old fraud case in Madhya Pradesh.
As the raids were underway, the ED had commenced the interrogation of Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, who had been untraceable for the past few days. Based on specific intelligence inputs, a probe agency team reached his home at 5 a.m. and found him there. Sdiqui became a director of the Al-Falah Investment Company in 1992 and later established the Al-Falah Trust. Over time, the business expanded into education, software, financial services, and the energy sector. There are enough grounds for ED or Income Tax to probe into Al Falah all these years.
