Cuttack, Dec. 19: The madarsa run by Abdul Rahman, the cleric who was arrested on Wednesday for his suspected links with al Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, at Bilateruan near Tangi, was evacuated today.

District child protection officer Pragati Mohanty said: "We had found 73 students at the madarsa. Of them, 70 were from Jharkhand, two from the nearby Chandikhole area and one from Bilateruan."

"Three of the students were handed over to their parents or legal guardians on Thursday, followed by 12 yesterday and 58 today," he said.

The evacuation process was completed by noon.

"The evacuation process was completed with restoration of all the students to their parents or legal guardians after proper identification by the local police," Cuttack collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra told The Telegraph.

"Restoration of the students was necessary as the madarsa was found to be lacking conducive living conditions for the students," he said.

The Child Welfare Committee, Cuttack, after a visit to the madarsa, had recommended the district administration to immediately restore the students, aged between six and 20 years, to their parents.

The district administration had been providing food and medical attention to the students since Thursday.

"The evacuation process was completed by noon with the restoration of all the 73 students to their parents after proper verification by the Tangi police and departure of the five tutors (four from Jharkhand and one from Khurda) from the madarsa," Mohanty said.

Investigations revealed that Rahman ran the madarsa in the name of Jamiat-ul-Harmain and Mazid. He had set it up after purchasing an acre at Bilateruan in the name of All-Harmain Trust. Six persons, including Rahman were members of the trust.

The police have constituted two special teams to probe further into Rahman's activities. While one team will go to Jharkhand, the other one will visit Bangalore, where he had links, official sources said.