

RANCHI: Mujibul Ansari (22) and his friend Salim Ansari (23) told other boarders at Iram lodge at Hindpidhi that they were preparing for IPS examination.

At least, this was the alibi that the duo used to stay away from other boarders, mostly Muslim students preparing for competitive examinations.

Police recovered nine powerful bombs and other materials from room No. 8 of Iram lodge in the city, which was occupied by the two students, suspected to be Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives.

According to police, the bombs were similar to those used in the recent serial blasts at Narendra Modi 's rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 27.

Mujibul and his friend Salim, had told their lodge mates that they were planning to appear for IPS exam and hence were studying hard and stayed inside their rooms for almost 20 hours a day. "They never talked to other students here and always behaved like they were superior to others. In fact, we also got inspiration from them," a friend of Mujibul told ToI outside the lodge on Monday night on condition of anonymity.

He added that Mujibul and his friend always looked down upon students in the lodge.

"He would say, 'we are not preparing for clerical jobs. You are aspiring clerks and thus you cannot understand what it takes to prepare for UPSC examinations. Please do not try to disturb us. We will one day come to this lodge as SPs'," said Mujibul's friend quoting him.

The lodge was frequented by several unknown Muslims. "Almost all of them are unknown to us. It is a lodge. Someone stays here for a month, others for a few months," said a tailor who runs a shop in the vicinity of the lodge.

Mujibul Ansari is from Ranchi's Ormanjhi area while his roommate Salim's location is not confirmed yet, said Ranchi SSP Saket Kumar Singh.

Both of them went missing a few days before Patna blasts. National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting a series of raids to nab them.

NIA got the lodge vacated at 10pm on Monday and locked it (not sealed). Room No. 8, from where nine bombs (each bomb having three bombs wrapped as one), a dozen detonators, several gelatin wires and Urdu literature were recovered, was one of the dens where plans were chalked out, police said.

Hyder, 24, who played a crucial role in the planning and execution of the terror attack before Modi's Patna rally, used to occasionally stay with them. Hyder is from Aurangabad in Bihar but lived in Ranchi's Doranda area. He is considered to be close to IM's second top planner Tehseen Akhtar, who masterminded the October 27 blasts.

Ranchi SSP Singh said: "We have got inputs that Hyder used to visit this lodge. We have got crucial links and the process of investigation is continuously on. It will not be proper to bring everything in public domain."

ADGP and police spokesperson S N Pradhan said that the seized bombs appear to be part of the consignment which was supplied to IM's Ranchi module to carry out blasts in Patna.

The seized bombs, all of which were diffused in a field late around 2am early tuesday night, were similar to the ones recovered after Bodh Gaya and Patna blasts. A digital watch similar to those used in Bodh Gaya and Patna was also recovered from the lodge.

