Al-Falah University chairman receives demolition notice for ancestral home in MP's Mhow

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The Cantonment Board in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, has issued what officials describe as a final order to tear down a well-known four-storey house long associated with Al Falah University chairman Mohammad Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui’s family.

Locals still refer to the structure as “Maulana’s Building,” a reference to Jawad’s late father, Mohammad Hammad Siddiqui, in whose name the property continues to stand, reported The Indian Express.

Cantonment engineer Harishankar Kaloya confirmed that the notice was formally served on the “owner or occupant,” clarifying that the title has never been updated.

“As per cantonment laws, renovation or repair permission can only be granted to the registered titleholder,” he said. He added that “since the ownership was never transferred, the entire structure is deemed unauthorised.”

Although the Siddiqui family moved out of the Kayastha locality in the early 2000s, the building -- constructed during the 1990s -- remains one of the most recognisable features of the neighbourhood, with more than 25 windows, a large basement, and a reputation as a longstanding landmark.

The timing of the board’s action comes as the family faces fresh attention in connection with a broader, multi-state fraud investigation.

That probe resurfaced after two doctors employed by Al Falah Medical College in Faridabad, Haryana, were allegedly linked to a terror module suspected of being involved in the November 10 blast near Delhi’s Red Fort.

This week also saw police arrest Jawad’s younger brother, Hamud Ahmed Siddiqui, in Hyderabad. Now 50, he had been wanted in multiple investment cheating cases registered in Mhow back in 2000.

Police allege that Hamud persuaded numerous investors -- including several retired Army and Military Engineer Services personnel -- to put money into sham firms that promised unusually high returns before he vanished with the funds.

Investigators say that after leaving Mhow, Hamud lived under a different identity in Hyderabad, operating a stock market investment outfit in Gachibowli.

According to police, he went to considerable lengths to hide who he was, even ensuring that household gas cylinders were delivered to another address entirely.