Explore Business Standard
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested Javad Ahmad Siddiqui, chairman of the Al Falah University, following two FIRs registered on a complaint by the University Grants Commission (UGC) after the Delhi Blast, an official said. The action came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had initiated proceedings in the matter. The Crime Branch registered the cases over alleged irregularities and forgery related to the functioning of the private university after the blast near the Red Fort. Siddiqui was produced before a local court, which granted four days of police custody for further questioning, the officer added. Further details awaited.
The government will host the annual 'Bharat Parv', a six-day national cultural and tourism festival, from January 26 at the Red Fort lawns as part of the Republic Day celebrations, officials said on Sunday. It will be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the tourism ministry said. 'Bharat Parv' is the ministry's flagship annual event celebrating India's rich cultural, artistic, culinary and spiritual heritage while promoting the national initiatives 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' and 'Dekho Apna Desh'. Over the years, the festival has evolved into a major platform showcasing India's unity in diversity and tourism potential, officials said. The festival aims to highlight India's diverse cultural heritage, encourage domestic tourism, provide a platform for artisans and states, Union Territories, promote tourism awareness, and strengthen national integration through cultural participation, they said. Major ...
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear the curative plea of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammad Arif against the death penalty given to him in the 2000 Red Fort attack case that left three Army jawans dead. The top court had on November 3, 2022 dismissed the review plea of Arif in the case. Arif alias Ashfaq was awarded the death sentence by a trial court in October 2005 and the Delhi High Court had affirmed the view of the trial court in September 2007. He had then approached the apex court challenging the high court's verdict. The top court had in August 2011 affirmed the death sentence awarded to Arif. On Thursday, a special bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari took note of the submissions of the counsel which cited apex court judgements after the death sentence was upheld by dismissing the appeal and the review petition. "Issue notice," the CJI said. Curative petition is the last legal recourse available to a litigant
Faridabad-based Al Falah University had appointed three doctors -- two arrested by the National Investigation Agency and the third an alleged suicide bomber of the November 2025 Red Fort area blast -- apart from other specialists without police verification or scrutiny, the Enforcement Directorate has found. The agency, as part of its money laundering probe against the promoter of the university, is understood to have furnished statements of various senior executives and faculty of the varsity in this context in a chargesheet filed before a Delhi court on Friday. Arrested 61-year-old Al Falah Group chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui and the Al Falah Charitable Trust that controls all the educational institutions of the varsity are the two accused named in the complaint filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The about 260-page chargesheet seeks prosecution of Siddiqui and his Trust for alleged generation of illicit funds from fees paid by students,
A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till January 16 the NIA custody of five accused in the Red Fort blast case including three doctors and a maulvi. Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna allowed the agency's plea to extend the custodial interrogation of Dr Adeel Rather, Dr Shaheen Saeed, Dr Muzammil Ganaie, Maulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagay and Jasir Bilal Wani. The agency, in its remand paper, said that the accused persons are required to be confronted with other co-accused, suspects and witnesses on certain contradictory points. It underlined that the accused persons possessed exclusive knowledge of certain facts and circumstances at various locations, including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The remand paper said that such facts were revealed by some witnesses and by the technical analysis of the extracted data retrieved from the seized digital devices. It said "certain code words" and "other incriminating material" which ...
Investigations into the "white-collar" terror module linked to the blast near Delhi's Red Fort on November 10 last year show that highly educated doctors used a sophisticated web of "ghost" SIM cards and encrypted apps to coordinate with Pakistani handlers, officials claimed on Sunday. The outcome of the investigations essentially formed the basis for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to issue a sweeping directive on November 28 last year, mandating that app-based communication services like WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal must be continuously linked to an active, physical SIM card within the device. The officials said the probe into the "white-collar" terror module and the blast led to a web of "ghost" SIM cards being used by the arrested doctors, including Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and others, as part of a tactical "dual-phone" protocol to evade security agencies. Each accused, including Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was killed while driving the explosives-laden vehicle near the
A Delhi court on Saturday remanded Dr Bilal Naseer Malla, one of the accused in the November 10 Red Fort blast case, to judicial custody for 13 days till January 16. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) produced Malla at the Patiala House Court amid tight security on Saturday, upon the expiry of his 8-day NIA custody granted on December 26. Mediapersons were barred from covering the proceedings. The accused was produced before Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna, who sent Malla to judicial custody till January 16. NIA arrested Malla in Delhi on December 9 and termed him a key accused in the conspiracy. According to the NIA probe, Malla knowingly provided logistical support to Dr Umar-un-Nabi, the suicide bomber who was driving the explosive-laden i20 car that blew up outside the Red Fort on November 10, killing 15 people. Malla is also accused of destruction of evidence related to the terrorist attack, the agency said on December 9. The NIA has arrested n
The Delhi Police was a busy force this year, battling the violent aftermath of the Red Fort blast that left the busy area strewn with dismembered bodies, and an early morning stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station that jolted the city out of its slumber. Amid persistent bomb threats, and sensational criminal arrests -- a serial killer dubbed Doctor Death, a self-styled godman evading law enforcement -- the force found itself stretched across intelligence, investigative and public safety fronts. The year's worst tragedy unfolded on November 10, when a car bomb exploded near the Red Fort, killing 15 people and injuring more than a dozen. The blast, which shook the densely populated Chandni Chowk-Lal Qila area, prompted a massive deployment of bomb squads and forensic teams, the shutdown of the local metro station, and days-long cordoning of the blast site. The Delhi Police led the probe before the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). On August 20, Delh
A court here on Friday extended the NIA custody of two accused in the Red Fort blast case. Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma allowed the probe agency to quiz the accused Yasir Ahmed Dar in its custody for ten more days, while the other accused Dr Bilal Naseer Malla will be quizzed for eight more days. Media persons were barred from covering the proceedings. According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigations, Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosive-laden car that detonated outside the Red Fort on November 10, was the alleged planner of the terrorist attack that left 15 people dead. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Dr Malla in Delhi on December 9, calling him a key accused in the conspiracy. According to the NIA investigations, Naseer had knowingly harboured Umar-un-Nabi by providing him logistical support. He is also accused of destruction of evidence related to the terrorist attack, the agency stated earlier on December 9. On December
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out raids at eight locations in Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts of Kashmir in connection with a "white-collar" terror module that was behind a car blast near Delhi's Red Fort, officials said here. The NIA teams conducted searches at the residence of Moulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagay in Shopian, officials said. Wagay has emerged as the mastermind of the radicalisation and recruitment of the 'white-collar' terror module busted early last month. He was arrested by police in October, and the NIA took him into custody last month after taking over the probe into the car blast that left 15 people dead and several others injured. Raids were also carried out at Koil, Chandgam, Malangpora and Samboora areas of Pulwama district, officials said, adding these locations were linked to people associated with the Delhi car blast case. Additionally, the agency searched the residence of Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh'
A Delhi court on Saturday sent three doctors and a preacher, who were arrested in connection with the Red Fort blast, to 10 days' judicial custody. All four accused, Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and Shaheena Saeed as well as Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay, were produced before Principal and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna, who sent them to 10-day judicial custody. As of now, the NIA has arrested seven persons accused in the case, which is linked to a "white-collar" terror module busted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. "The agency continues to pursue various leads in connection with the suicide bombing, and has been conducting searches across states in coordination with the respective police forces in a bid to identify and track others involved in the gruesome attack," the NIA said in a statement. Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosives-laden i20 car that detonated outside the Red Fort, had allegedly bought the car in Ali's name. Wani was arrested after it emerged that Umar had
A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Soyab, a Faridabad resident accused of harbouring Red Fort bomber Umar-un Nabi, to the NIA's custody for 10 days. The probe agency produced Soyab at the Patiala House court amid tight security on Wednesday after his arrest from Dhauj in Haryana's Faridabad. An official spokesperson for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said the agency arrested Soyab, a resident of Dhauj in Haryana's Faridabad, for allegedly providing logistical support to "terrorist Umar Un Nabi" before the Delhi terror bomb blast. The agency also produced another key accused, Amir Rashid Ali, whose 10-day custodial remand was set to expire on November 27. Both the accused were produced before Principal and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna who sent Soyab to 10-day NIA custody and allowed the probe agency to interrogate Amir for seven more days. Soyab is the seventh accused arrested by the NIA in the case, which is linked to a "white-collar" terror module busted by the Jammu a
The National Investigation Agency has arrested a Faridabad resident for allegedly harbouring Dr Umar-un Nabi, the man who drove the explosive-laden car that blasted outside the Red Fort in Delhi on November 10, killing 15 people. An official spokesperson for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said the agency arrested Soyab, a resident of Dhauj in Haryana's Faridabad, for allegedly providing logistical support to "terrorist Umar Un Nabi" before the Delhi terror bomb blast. Soyab is the seventh accused arrested by the NIA in the case, part of a 'white-collar' terror module busted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. "The agency continues to pursue various leads in connection with the suicide bombing, and has been conducting searches across states in coordination with the respective police forces in a bid to identify and track others involved in the gruesome attack," the spokesperson said in a statement.