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Investigators Track Sudden Staff Exodus, Deleted Phone Data After Blast

NIA, ED, Delhi Police Set Up Multi-Agency Command Centre Inside University

Faridabad/New Delhi : The fallout of the November 10 blast near the Red Fort continues to deepen, with security agencies now placing over 200 doctors and staff members of Al Falah University under intense scrutiny. The Faridabad-based institution, already at the centre of the terror investigation after suicide bomber Dr Umar Un Nabi was revealed to be an MBBS graduate and apprentice there, is witnessing unprecedented surveillance and questioning.

Over the past 48 hours, investigative teams have conducted frequent checks, raids, and interrogations on the university campus. Sources said a noticeable number of employees were seen leaving the campus on Wednesday, some with their personal belongings packed into vehicles. “Many staffers have gone on sudden leave and returned to their hometowns,” a senior university source confirmed, adding that agencies are now compiling the list of all personnel who left immediately after the blast.

Officials suspect a “significant number” of those who quietly left the campus may have had operational or logistical ties to Umar and his associates. Many individuals connected with the university have deleted phone data and call logs, a matter that has now become a significant line of investigation. Police teams are retrieving erased data with the help of cyber-forensic specialists.

Investigators have already questioned over 1,000 students, hostel residents, and staff, including those living in private accommodations around the university. Searches continue at hostels and private rooms as agencies work to rebuild Umar’s movements, contacts and support network during his stay in Faridabad.

The probe extended to Nuh, where the Delhi Police Special Cell detained a 35-year-old Anganwadi worker who had rented a room to Umar in Hidayat Colony. The woman had been absconding since the blast. Her family members are now under the scanner, and seven more locals have been questioned to map Umar’s network in the district. Investigators said Umar used multiple mobile phones and frequently changed SIM cards during his stay.

Back at Al Falah Medical College & Hospital, the terror link revelations have had an immediate impact: daily OPD footfall has dropped from nearly 200 patients to under 100. Hospital sources described a sense of unease among locals after reports emerged that Umar—who worked and lived inside the campus—was allegedly receiving “special treatment”.

Two doctors undergoing apprenticeship at the medical college told investigators that Umar had remained absent for nearly six months in 2023 without any formal leave, yet was reinstated without inquiry. They also claimed Umar taught only one or two short lectures a week, each lasting barely 15–20 minutes, and was inexplicably assigned only evening and night shifts, never morning duty—an anomaly that investigators now consider critical.

With suspicions mounting that an internal handler may have facilitated Umar’s activities, the Al Falah campus has effectively become a fortress. Multiple agencies—including the NIA, Delhi Police Special Cell, Faridabad Crime Branch, UP ATS, and J&K Police—have established a temporary joint command centre within the university premises. On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also joined the investigation, probing financial irregularities and alleged terror financing linked to the Al Falah Charitable Trust.

The multi-agency presence, combined with the sudden staff exodus and digital erasures, has intensified concerns that the Red Fort blast was not an isolated act but part of a wider, organised network operating from within the academic ecosystem.