The Enforcement Directorate’s probe has opened up a startling trail leading straight to Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman and founder of Al Falah University, now accused of acquiring prime Hindu land in south-east Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar using forged documents.
The university, already under intense scrutiny after three of its doctors were exposed as part of the “white-collar terror module” behind the 10 November Red Fort blast, faces a deepening scandal. The attack claimed 13 lives—and now, investigators say the institution’s top leadership may have been running a fraud of its own.
Siddiqui, arrested last week and currently in ED custody on money-laundering charges, used his private firm, Tarbia Education Foundation, to purchase multiple land parcels through fake General Power of Attorney (GPA) documents. Officials say some of these GPAs were “executed” decades after the Hindu landowners had passed away.
According to investigators, land in Khasra No. 792, Madanpur Khadar, valued at ₹75 lakh, was among the plots fraudulently transferred. The paperwork is now proven to be fabricated: forged signatures, forged thumb impressions and deceased individuals magically authorising land sales in 2004.
One man, Vinod Kumar, emerges as central to the deception. Records show he held power of attorney for at least five landowners who had all died years before the GPA was registered on 7 January 2004.
While Nathu died in 1972, Harbans Singh in 1991, Harkesh in 1993, Shiv Dayal in 1998, and Jay Ram in 1998, yet all five supposedly executed fresh GPAs in favour of Vinod Kumar in 2004, and the land was eventually sold to Tarbia in 2013.
Despite the impossible timelines, a registered sale deed was processed, something investigators now call a clear case of fraud.
Siddiqui’s arrest came after ED teams raided 25 locations across Delhi and Faridabad tied to the Al Falah Group, probing fake accreditation claims and suspected financial irregularities. The fallout has been swift: Delhi Police have registered two FIRs based on UGC complaints, one for cheating, another for forgery. The Association of Indian Universities has revoked Al Falah University’s membership.
NAAC has issued a notice asking why the UGC should not withdraw the university’s recognition altogether, after finding that institutions under Al Falah falsely claimed “A” grades on their website.
Al Falah University came under the scanner following the Delhi Red Fort attack earlier this month where doctors turned terrorists from Al Falah University tried to mount a Hamas-style attack in Delhi before security agencies foiled their plans and busted the terror module.
