Muzibul’s mother Anisha Khatoon and brother Md Ramatullah at Chakla on Tuesday. Picture by Hardeep Singh. See Pages 4 & 7

Chakla (Ranchi), Nov. 5: Anisha Khatoon of Chakla village, 22km from the capital, hoped her quiet, well-behaved son would bail the family out of genteel poverty by becoming an IAS officer.

Last night, Muzibullah Ansari’s mother found out that instead of studying for civil service exams, he was allegedly hosting Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives at his Hindpiri hostel room.

Following the confession of arrested Patna blast prime suspect Md Imtiyaz Ansari of Sithio that implicated Muzibullah (alias Muzibul or Muzib), police raided his hostel room to find a cache of nine bombs and other suspicious items.

Ranchi police, which yesterday night detained Khatoon’s husband Jabir Ansari and elder son Zakirullah Ansari from their dingy house in Ormanjhi’s Chakla village in connection to Muzibul’s alleged terror links, released them this evening.

Police also questioned the family in Chakla this morning.

The damage that the absconding Muzibul has done seems irreversible. In her 50s, Khatoon, a non-matriculate, looks bewildered at the turn of events in the past 24 hours.

Her husband, as a store assistant at Apollo hospital, always stressed on educating the children, Khatoon kept telling The Telegraph.

Eldest son Zakir, a diploma engineer from Al-kabir Polytechnic Institute, Jamshedpur, found a job with BSNL in Calcutta.

“Zakir was to leave for Calcutta tomorrow for his job. But now, after all this, I don’t know what will happen,” a tearful Khatoon wrings her hands in the thatched, dingy residence.

“Muzib graduated from SS Memorial College (in Kanke). I can’t say when. Early this year, he left for Ranchi to stay in Hindpiri (Iram Lodge) to prepare for his UPSC exams,” the mother said.

Muzibul’s other siblings are undergraduate Sukhiya Parveen and ninth grader Md Ramatullah.

“Kal raat achanak Ormanjhi thana wale aaye raat mein aur mere shauhar ko bole aapse kuch kaam hai, zara saath chaliye. Beta ko bhi le gaye (Ormanjhi policemen suddenly came last night and took my husband and elder son with them),” Khatoon said.

Ranchi police is maintaining that room No. 8, where Muzibul used to stay, was the hangout of various IM operatives from Bihar and Jharkhand, including Haider, one of the suspected Patna blast masterminds.

Staring at the floor, Khatoon rubbished all allegations.

“My children are good in studies. Muzib ko bachpan se IAS banna tha. Woh UPSC ki taiyyari kar raha tha. Mujhe pata nai uska naam kaise aaya insab mein. (Muzib wanted to be an IAS since childhood and was preparing for his exams. I don’t know how his name cropped up in all this),” she said.

She adds that she last saw him on October 19. “He had a fight, left home crying. It was a family matter. After that, his phone was constantly switched off. We couldn’t speak to him. I should have stopped him,” she says.

“You ask anyone in this village about us,” she issues a challenge. “We have been living here since generations. Muzib comes home every fortnight.”

Neighbours said the family took part in every social gathering in the multi-ethnic village.

“Jabir has been working here since 1980. He never had any issues with anyone,” a senior administrative official of Apollo hospital said.

Chakla, with 200 households, is a peaceful spot in Ormanjhi block, Ranchi. Though it doesn’t have proper roads or water pipes, it has a high number of employed educated youths.

“Over 35 per cent of Chakla youths have jobs in local industries. We will launch a gas-bottling unit (Bharat Gas) to give jobs to unemployed youths,” circle officer Jitendra Munda said.

Back in Hindpiri, peace committee member Manzoor Chisti rued last night’s events. “We’ve done a lot to keep relations amicable between communities. But people need to keep tabs on private lodges,” he said.

A tailor adjacent to Iram Lodge had the last word. “Neither life nor property was damaged yesterday. But our locality is defamed. We have to restore its good name.”