RANCHI: Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives are said to have used funds raised in the name of charity to sponsor their newly formed Ranchi module that allegedly conspired to assassinate BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during his rally in Patna last Sunday.

This revelation was made by suspected IM operative Ujair Ahmad during a joint interrogation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Ranchi police. The NIA arrested Ujair, who was earlier detained, on Wednesday after he made the incriminating disclosures.

Ranchi SSP Saket Kumar Singh, privy to the interrogation, said Ujair, also a religious leader, collected donations and used the money to fund the IM’s Ranchi module. “Five boys, who were detained because they worked as couriers for Ujair, have confessed to having handed over Rs 80,000 in three instalments to Haider, a suspected Patna blasts conspirator,” said Singh. Haider is absconding.

Ujair denied the Ranchi module received any international funding but accepted he had used charity funds, said Singh. The money was collected from various people from Jharkhand and outside the state for the minority community’s welfare. Police are looking for people who knowingly or unknowingly made the donations to Ujair. “The NIA is investigating Ujair’s bank details,” Singh said.

NIA sources said Haider had distributed the money to Mohammed Imtiaz Ansari, arrested in Patna, and five of his friends who had left Ranchi on the eve of Modi’s rally to carry out the Patna bombings. “The accused had carried explosives in their backpacks to Patna,” said Ranchi zone IG M S Bhatia.

Ujair worked as maintenance manager at a vernacular media house in Ranchi and allegedly used part of his salary to fund the Ranchi module. Singh claimed Ujair used to get Rs 5 lakh per annum from the media firm. A senior HR official of the company said Ujair was working as a contractor with them.

Jharkhand ADGP and police spokesperson S N Pradhan said Ujair has accepted his links with Haider. “He used to give religious speeches at gatherings in Doranda locality and other places,” said Pradhan. “He was in touch with several jihadi sympathizers and collected donations from them.”

Nazar Ahmad, a cousin of Ujair, accepted his brother used to give religious speeches. “At times he used to make speeches at a local Urdu library here, but he never collected donations,” Ahmad told TOI.