Once a quiet campus surrounded by vast farmland, Faridabad’s Al-Falah University, spread over 70 acres, has now turned into a heavily guarded fortress. The institution, caught at the centre of a “white-collar” terror network with three of its employees accused in the Red Fort blast, wears an eerie silence today. Only sounds of police sirens can be heard as vans enter the university premises every few hours.
Security has been stepped up, several areas have been sealed, and the medical college is now off-limits to outsiders. Only a few patients stand in line at the hospital gate, allowed entry after strict checking. Staff members have been told to stay silent, and even mentioning the names of Dr Umar Nabi, Dr Muzammil Ganai, or Dr Shaheen Shahid is enough to invite trouble.
A doctor said “The police have questioned around 50 people here so far, but most have nothing to offer. We are all in shock and frankly too scared. We’ve been unofficially told to stay away from the media or talk about the issue. It feels like we Kashmiri doctors and students have been labelled.”
He added, “We hardly step out of our rooms or speak beyond duty hours. WhatsApp calls are our only mode of communication now and we avoid mentioning the trio in any chat or social media post. Our parents back home are scared and many younger students have taken leave and gone home. I had seen Ganai and Shaheen around, but as far as I know, they weren’t part of any large friend group.”
Most MBBS students said they had little interaction with Dr Ganai, who worked as a junior resident in the emergency department. To them, he was quiet and soft-spoken, known more for his hard work during clinical rotations than any signs of radicalism.
The canteen, now nearly empty, has become a place for hushed conversations. A second-year MBBS student said Umar rarely came to class, while Shaheen was regular. Few had ever seen the three together. Most staff and students said they had never heard of any i20 car on campus, though some told the police that Shaheen’s Maruti Suzuki Swift was often seen nearby.
A local worker from Dhauj village said the blast had created anger among residents. “It’s not just the medical college but the entire village. The local panchayat has asked all Kashmiri doctors and hospital employees to vacate their residences by December, saying the incident has brought unwanted attention to the village,” he said.
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