Al Falah University chancellor’s brother arrested in long-pending fraud cases
Police say Hamood Ahmad Siddiqui, wanted since 2000 in multiple cheating cases in Mhow, was traced after the Delhi blast probe refocused attention on his family links
The brother of the chancellor of Al Falah University, linked to the Delhi blast probe, has been arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police from Hyderabad in connection with fraud cases dating back nearly 25 years, officials said on Monday (November 17).
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A reward of Rs 10,000 had been announced for the arrest of accused Hamood Ahmad Siddiqui (50), the younger brother of Faridabad-based Al Falah University's Chancellor Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, an official said.
Accused nabbed after 25 years
He was arrested on Sunday in connection with three cases registered in Madhya Pradesh's Mhow town for alleged investment fraud of around Rs 40 lakh, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Yangchen Dolkar Bhutia told reporters.
"He is accused of taking money from people under the guise of investment and promising them 20 per cent interest on it. He ran the company in Mhow for two years and fled the town with his family in the third year," the official said.
"Hamood Ahmad Siddiqui has been arrested from Hyderabad in connection with three cases registered at the Mhow police station 25 years ago. Our four-member team apprehended him as part of a special operation to arrest absconding accused in old criminal cases," she said.
The three cases were registered against Hamood Siddiqui in 2000 under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant legal provisions, the official said.
In addition to these, two separate cases were registered against him at the Mhow police station in 1988 and 1989 on charges of rioting and attempt to murder, she said. "A reward of Rs 10,000 was announced for Hamood Siddiqui's arrest in 2019," the official said.
Delhi blast probe led to his arrest
Currently, he runs a private company in Hyderabad engaged in stock market investment, Bhutia said. Hamood Siddiqui originally hails from Mhow, where he ran an investment company as managing director around 1995, and his wife and an acquaintance were also on the firm's board of directors, she said.
Earlier in the day, Mhow Sub Divisional Officer of Police Lalit Singh Sikarwar said, "Hamood vanished from Mhow in 2000 after allegedly establishing a bogus private bank and luring hundreds of residents with promises of doubling their deposits. He had fled with his family soon after the scam surfaced, leaving authorities searching for him for decades. He was arrested in Hyderabad yesterday."
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The arrest was made after the Mhow police began re-examining the background of Jawad Siddiqui and his local roots came to light, the official said. A detailed review of family records indicated that Hamood had been an absconder in the long-pending cheating case.
Investigators are now mapping Hamood's contacts and movements over the years to understand who may have assisted him during his time underground.
Al Falah University, located in Haryana's Faridabad district, is under investigation following the arrest of some doctors in connection with the November 10 high-intensity blast near the Red Fort in Delhi, which claimed 13 lives and injured several others.
(With agency inputs)