What's in room number 32? NIA finds Rs 18 lakh at Al-Falah University’s room of Dr Shaheen; probe intensifies into ‘white-collar terror’ module

FARIDABAD: A National Investigation Agency team discovered Rs 18 lakh in cash from the hostel room of Dr Shaheen Shahid at Al-Falah University on Thursday night. The wads of cash — found inside an almirah in room number 32 — have heightened suspicion that the money may have been set aside to fund the ‘white-coat terror module' operating from within the university.

Shaheen, who was arrested for her alleged role in the Nov 10 Delhi blast, was brought to the university campus after a round of spot identification at a shop in NIT area, from where chemicals had allegedly been bought to make explosives.


The NIA team first escorted her to the administrative block, where she pointed out a locker she had used. From there, the sleuths took her to her hostel room for a detailed search, leading to the recovery of Rs 18 lakh. NIA officers counted the cash in the room itself and seized the money.

Officials said they were now tracing the source of the funds and trying to determine whether they had been channelled through the module's network. Searches have also been initiated to identify anyone who may have facilitated the transfer. Following the seizure, the NIA mapped out Shaheen's movements across the campus, taking her to the medical ward, classroom, and doctor's cabin to reconstruct her daily routine and identify possible associates. The agency, officials said, is compiling a list of students, staff, and others she may have contacted during the course of building the terror network.

According to sources, Shaheen remained active in the module even while teaching at Al-Falah, working to expand her circle of contacts both inside and outside the university.

The NIA operation involving Shaheen came a day after Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, another Al-Falah doctor arrested for being part of the terror module, was brought to Faridabad, where he identified two shops from where he bought the ammonium nitrate he had stocked in his rooms.

The investigating agency also uncovered two more hideouts linked to Muzammil, triggering speculation that more explosives could be hidden.

In two other rooms within a few kilometres of the university, Muzammil had stocked Rs 2,900kg of ammonium nitrate, an explosive material. Investigators also found that he had concealed much of this in village fields before moving it to a cleric's house that he had taken on rent in Fatehpur Taga.

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