Al Falah University had long-standing terror links; 2008 Indian Mujahideen bomber was former student: Sources

Faridabad: Ongoing probe has revealed that Al Falah University, which has come under the scanner following the busting of a "white-collar terror module" and the blast near Red Fort, had long-standing links with terror operatives, sources said on Friday.

They said fugitive Indian Mujahideen bomber Mirza Shadab Baig -- wanted for a series of explosions in 2008 -- was a former student of the Faridabad-based university, several of whose doctors were arrested in connection with the Delhi blast case.

Baig, a key Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative accused in the Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Gorakhpur blasts, completed his B.Tech in electronics and instrumentation from the university in 2007, they said.

He disappeared soon after, travelling on his genuine passport, and has been missing since September 19, 2008 -- the day of the Batla House encounter in the national capital, the sources said.

Agencies believe Baig, a native of Raja Ka Qila Mohalla in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh, has been living in Saudi Arabia and was last traced to Afghanistan in 2019.

According to the sources, a team of Punjab Police visited the campus, questioning staff members and students about a 45-year-old doctor detained from Pathankot recently.

He had been teaching at a medical college in Pathankot for three years and before that, taught at Al Falah University for four years, they said.

The doctor was still in contact with several of his fellow students at Al Falah University. The Punjab Police team also collected information about his relationship with Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosives-laden i20 that detonated outside the Red Fort, as well as other accused, sources said.

On Thursday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took custody of three doctors and a preacher arrested in connection with the November 10 car blast outside the Red Fort in which 15 people were killed.

Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and Shaheena Saeed, as well as Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay, had earlier been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police. The number of people booked in connection with the 'white collar' terror plot stands at six.

The NIA on Friday again detained the cab driver linked to the case and is questioning him alongside Ganaie, brought from Jammu and Kashmir on a production warrant, sources said.

The driver was first detained at Dhauj village, where Al Falah University is situated, on Wednesday night. Sources said officers recovered from the driver's house a grinding machine and another electric device, which were kept in his custody by Ganaie. They said Ganaie had provided SIM cards to some students and other associates through the cab driver.

Efforts are underway to determine where the refined explosives found in Ganaie's room were manufactured.