New York University’s fraught tenure as an intellectual prize of the Middle East has taken a new and mysterious turn: A private investigator has been making inquiries about an N.Y.U. professor who criticized the exploitation of migrant workers building the university’s campus in Abu Dhabi.

The same investigator, working for an as-yet unidentified party, has also sought information on a reporter for The New York Times who wrote last year about the harsh conditions endured by those workers.

The revelation that a private investigator has been collecting information about the professor, Andrew Ross, and the reporter, Ariel Kaminer, alarmed university officials. “The university has no knowledge of this and no involvement,” John Beckman, an N.Y.U. spokesman, said in a statement. “It’s reprehensible and offensive on its face, and we call on whoever is involved to desist immediately.”

It was not possible to say if any arm of the United Arab Emirates government, which has a record of striking back at those critical of migrant labor conditions there, has had a role in the investigation. A spokeswoman at the country’s embassy in Washington did not respond when asked on Thursday if the government joined N.Y.U.’s condemnation of the inquiry, or if it could offer insight into its nature or purpose.