Bhubaneswar, Dec. 16: A 37-year-old madarsa teacher was today arrested from a village in Cuttack's Jagatpur area, about 23km from here, for his alleged links with terror outfit al Qaida.

In a pre-dawn operation, a joint team of city police and special cell of Delhi police picked up Abdul Rahman Katki, who runs a madarsa at Tangi in Cuttack, from his house at Paschimkachcha village.

He was produced in Salepur court this afternoon and taken on two-day transit remand by Delhi police. He is likely to be flown to Delhi after initial interrogation at an undisclosed destination in the state.

While Delhi police picked up Rahman from Paschimkachcha, it claimed to have busted a module of terror group al Qaida in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS), an affiliate of the dreaded terror outfit with an international profile, by arresting Mohammed Asif, 41, from Seelampur in the national capital.

He headed the group's motivation, recruitment and training wing, said special commissioner of Delhi police (special cell) Arvind Deep.

A father of three children, Rahman had been under the lens of Jharkhand and Odisha police for the past one year for making inflammatory speeches in the neighbouring state.

The Telegraph had on November 24 carried a report on his alleged divisive activities in Jharkhand. He had then been warned by the Odisha police not to visit Jharkhand.

The police said preliminary investigation had revealed Rahman's AQIS links. He had also visited Pakistan in the 90s.

Director-general of police K.B. Singh said Rahman used to indoctrinate and brainwash children in his madarsa near Tangi.

"He has been visiting various madarsas delivering hate speeches in several states to stir up differences between two sects of the Muslim community. He had been under our constant surveillance," said Singh.

Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police commissioner R.P. Sharma said Rahman had suspected links with terror modules in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Pakistan and the UK.

"He had recently visited Saudi Arabia and Dubai. He has relatives in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka with suspected terror links," said Sharma.

The police have seized his mobile phone, passport and a tablet computer.

Reacting to Rahman's arrest, ADG (operation) of Jharkhand police S.N. Pradhan said: "Police in the state were building a case against him. It is good that he has been arrested."

Rahman's elder brother, Mohammad Tahir, had been arrested in connection with the 2002 terrorist attack on the American Centre in Calcutta in which five persons were killed and 20 others were injured. The police suspect that Rahman used to play the role of an organiser and facilitator for the AQIS.

"The accused was allegedly involved in making recruitments for the terror outfit. This angle is being probed by Delhi police," Sharma said. His madarsa with over 90 students, a majority of them from Jharkhand, was allegedly a front for his subversive activities.

Rahman, who was educated at a madarsa in Uttar Pradesh and holds a Phd in religious literature from Deoband Islamic University, did not offer any resistance at the time of being arrested.

"He was sleeping. We woke him up. His elder brother sought to know the reasons for the arrest, but he was quiet," said a police official.

However, the police do not have much information about his activities in Odisha.