Red Fort Blast Case: ED Raids 25 Premises Linked to Al Falah University in Delhi-NCR

The ED on Tuesday morning carried out coordinated searches at around 25 premises belonging to Al Falah University at various places in Delhi-NCR and found large-scale financial irregularities during the probe into the Red Fort blast case and the Faridabad-based terror module.

Coordinated Dawn Raids

The ED officials began the raid at 5:15 am and raided sites connected to purported financial fraud, shell companies operating agencies for accommodation and money laundering. The raids were on the Al Falah Trust and its associates, and all key personnel who deal with finance and administration came within the ambit of the searches.

Shell Company Network Exposed 

Investigators found nine shell companies linked to the group, all of which were registered at a single address. Preliminary findings indicate several risk factors consistent with possible shell-company behavior, such as no physical presence or meaningful utility consumption at declared business locations.

The probe revealed that there was a common mobile number and email ID being used across companies and bank accounts, indicating coordinated control. EPFO and ESIC filings also did not corroborate the scale of reported operations, thus casting doubt over actual employees employed and business transacted.

Financial Red Flags

 The preliminary findings point to a disconcerting picture of financial management: common directors and signatories across multiple entities, weak Know Your Customer trails, and minimal salary disbursement through banking channels point to attempts at obfuscation of financial flows. The total absence of any HR records further compounds the suspicion about legitimate business operations.

Investigators also found synchronized patterns of incorporation and identical contact coordinates among different companies, speaking to a corporate structure created systematically to facilitate the movement of funds while evading scrutiny. 

Recognition Discrepancies

The agency has found prima facie differences between claims of UGC and NAAC recognition. Following NAAC's recent show-cause notice to the university for displaying a false accreditation on its website, these are being examined with relevant authorities. Given that previous investigations revealed expired accreditations were being falsely represented as current, this development further exacerbates the university's credibility crisis.

Ongoing Investigation

According to ED sources, the investigation is still ongoing, and the analysis of digital records and confiscated documents is currently underway. As the investigators map the whole financial ecosystem that fueled the terror module, NIA, Delhi Police, and Haryana Police continue to coordinate.