NEW DELHI – The Al-Falah University sits amid farmland in the village of Dhauj, south of New Delhi.

Spread across 29ha, the normally peaceful rural seat of learning has been swept up in a widening terror investigation that is focusing on doctors who taught at the university.

One doctor from the Al-Falah School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, a medical college, is now the prime suspect in the

that killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others.

Over half a dozen people, including the doctors, have been detained or arrested so far.

Two other doctors are suspected of being in the same “white-collar” terror cell with links to militant groups in Kashmir, a disputed area between India and Pakistan. The cell’s exact links to Pakistan, if any, are unclear.

The blast shattered a years-long peace in the capital, which has not encountered a major terror-linked bombing since 2011.

But the Nov 10 attack, and

, has heightened fears of a larger regional conflagration. Tensions remain high between India and Pakistan after a

The car blast, which occurred on a busy street near the metro station in front of the Mughal-era Red Fort, was

after a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Nov 12.

The attack has triggered concerns over the radicalisation of professionals and underlined the continuing challenges in the fight against terrorism in the South Asian country.

The investigations so far

Just outside the university gate, small eateries and tea stalls stood empty on Nov 12 amid heightened media and police presence. “The students are not coming now,” said one tea stall owner.

According to its website, the university has 200 seats for its MBBS, or Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course. It also runs Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery programmes, and operates a 378-bed super speciality hospital on the campus for locals, students and staff.

Local police confirmed to The Straits Times that faculty members are being questioned. The university is near the city of Faridabad, over an hour’s drive south of New Delhi.

Search operations are underway in the village and surrounding areas, Faridabad police spokesman Yashpal Singh told ST.

Investigators said they had seized 390kg of a substance suspected to be ammonium nitrate, a key component in explosives, packed tightly in eight big suitcases and four small suitcases, from a rented room linked to Dr Muzammil Ganaie, who is from Kashmir. Detonators. A riffle and a pistol were also found.

In all, police have so far recovered 2,900kg of explosive materials and assorted weapons from different spots related to the suspected terror cell.

Another faculty member, Dr Shaheen Shaheed, who is from Uttar Pradesh state, was also detained.

A third doctor, Dr Umar Nabi, also from Kashmir, is suspected to be the driver of the car. According to Indian media reports, he had been on the run as police closed in on the terror cell.

Indian media, quoting police sources, said that Dr Nabi has been identified through DNA from his family as the driver of the car.

Expanding probe

while investigating posters of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) – a Pakistan-based group founded by wanted terrorist Masood Azhar – that had popped up in different parts of Kashmir, including capital city Srinagar.

Kashmir has long been a centre of terror activity and a trigger for three wars between India and Pakistan.

India has frequently accused Pakistan of supporting terror activities against it in Kashmir, which is claimed in full by both countries. Pakistan has denied the charges.

This initial probe had led Jammu and Kashmir police to what they described as a “white-collar ecosystem involving radicalised professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers operating from Pakistan and other countries”.

At least half a dozen doctors were traced to the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, leading to the discovery of explosive materials, weapons and ammunition. Police believe these materials were being amassed to carry out terror attacks.

The investigation has expanded after the Delhi blast, involving police from Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi as well as the National Investigation Agency, India’s main counter-terrorism agency.

A police official told ST that different agencies were collaborating and conducting more raids.

A resolution passed at the Nov 12 Cabinet meeting “directs that the investigation into the incident be pursued with the utmost urgency and professionalism so that the perpetrators, their collaborators, and their sponsors are identified and brought to justice without delay”.

Medicine to terror

The Jammu and Kashmir police said the terror cell had been “using encrypted channels for indoctrination, coordination, fund movement and logistics”.

It further noted that “funds were raised through professional and academic networks under the guise of social/charitable causes”.

The case has triggered much debate in India over how so many doctors, described by their respective families as hard-working and studious, became involved in a terror network.

Ms Muzamila, the sister-in-law of Dr Nabi, in an interview with news agency ANI, said the family could not believe accusations that he was involved in a terror plot.

“He was a reserved kind of person right from childhood. We faced a lot of struggles to get him educated,” she said.

Families of others accused of being in the terror cell have also expressed disbelief over the charges.

Al-Fallah University has expressed shock at the suspected terror link to its campus.

“We have also learnt that two of our doctors have been detained by the investigating agencies. We wish to make it clear that the university has no connection with the said persons apart from them working in their official capacities with the university,” vice-chancellor Bhupinder Kaur Anand said in a statement on Nov 12.

The university also clarified that its laboratories were not used either for storing related chemicals or materials. “The university laboratories are used solely and exclusively for the academic and training requirements of MBBS students and other authorised courses,” the statement said.

What’s next?

Investigators are expected to continue investigations into how the cell was formed, who was behind it and any cross-border linkages.

There has been concern that this could lead to tensions with Pakistan, which has claimed Indian involvement in a terror attack in Islamabad on Nov 11 in which 12 people were killed.

The Indian government and other investigating agencies have not said if the Delhi attack had cross-border links to Pakistan.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US has offered help, and praised India’s “measured and cautious” handling of the terror case so far.

“We’ve offered to help, but I think they’re very capable in these investigations,” he said, noting that “it has to become something broader”.

He added: “But I think we’re going to wait and see what their investigation reveals.”

Mr Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, said white-collar terrorism is not a new phenomenon.

“We have had white-collar terrorism for a long time. Most leadership (in terror groups) tends to be educated, and it’s not that doctors haven’t been involved earlier.

“But what is slightly surprising is that you have a cluster of doctors – that’s new.”

Mr Sahni added: “The challenges to tackling terrorism remain the same: It remains difficult to track radicalisation.”