An examination of documents has revealed that one man, identified as Vinod Kumar, held the power of attorney for at least five landowners who were already dead by the time the power of attorney was registered on 7 January 2004, according to the official.

“The agency has found that one landowner, Nathu, died on 1 January 1972, followed by Harbans Singh, who died on 27 April 1991; Harkesh, who died on 12 June 1993; Shiv Dayal, who died on 22 January 1998; and Jay Ram, who died on 15 October 1998. Interestingly, the date of GPA registration of all these people in favour of Vinod Kumar is 7 January 2004, and it was later sold to Tarbia on 27 June 2013,” the official said.

The GPA registration carried the names and signatures or thumb impressions of the deceased landowners.

The agency has also found that in several instances the purported signatories had died long before the GPA was executed in January 2004.

“A GPA said to be signed by a dead person has no legal authority, but despite this, a registered sale deed dated 27 June 2013 was executed,” he said.

Siddiqui was arrested on 18 November, hours after multiple ED teams conducted searches at 25 locations across Delhi and Faridabad linked to the Al Falah Group in connection with alleged fraudulent claims of accreditation and financial irregularities by the group’s flagship institutions.

Delhi Police have also registered two FIRs based on a complaint from the UGC. One FIR alleges cheating, while the other invokes charges of forgery. The Association of Indian Universities has revoked Al Falah University’s membership.

Earlier, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) issued a notice asking the private university to explain why the UGC should not be asked to withdraw its recognition.

The university had claimed on its website that its Al Falah School of Engineering and Technology and Al Falah School of Education and Training had “A” grades from the NAAC.