PUNE: Six students in the age group of 12 to 16 years from Bihar escaped from a madrassa on Handewadi road at Sayyednagar in Hadapsar on July 3 evening, the day a maulana (religious preacher) from Vadgaonsheri got their names registered with the Islamic education institute.A madrasa official conducted searches at Pune railway station, other madarssas in the Hadapsar area and even contacted the family members of the students, but their whereabouts were still not known. Eyewitnesses told police that they had seen the students running with their luggage. The Wanowrie police registered a case on Thursday.Teacher Mohammad Abu Talib Shabbir Alam Shaikh from Darool Uloom Chistiya Jalaliya Madrassa told TOI, “The students told the authorities on arrival that they did not like the stay here and that they intended to pursue education in Mumbai. We then appealed to them to stay here for at least 10 days. We gave them an assurance that they would like the place because the atmosphere was conducive and friendly, and facilities for learning the holy Quran , Urdu and English was available here.”Shaikh said, “The students initially responded to our appeal and assured us that they would stay here for a while before taking a call to seek admission at another institute in Mumbai. But they suddenly changed their mind and fled without giving us an official intimation.”He said, “We launched a search operation and decided to lodge an FIR after the whereabouts of the students could not be ascertained. We, with the help of the police, are checking CCTV cameras to find out the routes used by the students for tracing them at the earliest,” he added.Assistant inspector Shekhar Shinde of the Wanowrie police said, “Maulana Nazim Shaikh from Vadgaonsheri had brought the students here at 8am on Tuesday from his native place Sabudangi village at Bharatpur tehsil in Kishanganj district of Bihar. The students had bath and meals in the afternoon. They also played with three other students outside the madrassa. They picked up their baggage and fled around 6pm.”He said, “We have circulated the photos of the students provided by the complainant to our detection team and informers. We have intensified our hunt for tracing them. The madrassa is being run by Tousif Fhurkan Ali Shaikh from 2006.”