Cuttack/ Kendrapara, Dec. 16: Mohammad Abdul Rahman Katki, popularly known as Maulana, is a terror conduit - this bit of news was enough to shock and awe people living at Paschimakachha village in Jagatpur.
Situated at the far end of Paschimakachha village, 37-year-old Rahman's house is barely 7km from Jagatpur police station.
The cleric, who also ran a madarsa at Tangi, was arrested for making communally-provocative speeches and his suspected links with terror group al Qaida in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Rahman's fluorescent green colour single-storeyed pucca house stands out in his village, where he lived with his three brothers, wife, three children.
Tension was palpable at Paschimkachha village soon after Rahman's arrest.
The entire village, which houses nearly 100 families, was curious to know the details of the case.
The otherwise quiet village, woke up to a morning that was visibly different from any other day. As police jeeps made rounds of the village, people could not hide their curiosity and tried to peep into the house of Rahman as raids were being carried out in search of evidence.
The village road that runs past Rahman's house is barely 4-5ft wide and there were too many people to enable comfortable movement.
An eyewitness to the late-night operation, one of Rahman's neighbours said: "We had seen over seven police jeeps and over 20 officers reaching the spot and within 10 to 15 minutes, three vehicles left village at the dead of night."
Several people, who didn't want to be named, alleged that Rahman's activities were "suspicious".
One of them said that his entry to several Islamic religious institutions had been banned in the past by the villagers for his hate speech.
"He is a fiery orator," said one of his neighbours.
"Though we live close to their house, we hardly communicate with them. Even some of Rahman's relatives have snapped ties with the family recently because of the recent controversies," said another neighbour.
Rahman's family members, however, refuted the allegations of his terror link and claimed that he was innocent.
"He (Rahman) is a good human being and in no way is he connected with any illegal activities," said his 26-year-old nephew Kamal Khan.
"Rahman had visited Saudi Arabia for religious activities and also outside the state on similar work. We have complete faith in the judiciary and he will be proved innocent," Kamal added.
Rahman's colleagues also echoed the sentiments of his family members.
"It is an unfortunate incident as Rahman was trying his best to impart proper basic education to children at his madarsa," said his neighbour Khaliluddin Khan.
Villagers said that most of the over 90 children at Rahman's madarsa were from Jharkhand and the rest from various parts of Odisha.
"We don't know the reason for his arrest. Here the children were taught about right principles of life," said Abdul Wahid, a teacher at Rahman's madarsa.
Wahid said that there were four other teachers at the madarsa and Rahman used to take classes of whenever he was in Cuttack.
Though his colleague had some good word for him, Premananda Pradhan, former sarpanch of Champati, was left aghast.
"We were stunned when we saw the news on television. It was difficult for us to believe it. We never thought a person involved in anti-national activities would live amongst us unnoticed," Pradhan said.
Anger also poured out against Rahman for giving the village a "bad name".
"He has given our village a very bad name. We never thought that Rahman was involved in terror and subversive activities. He often stayed in the madarsa that he had set up in Mundali near Tangi. He always appeared to be a gentleman. However, he rarely mixed with the villagers."
"All the madarsas situated here are under surveillance. We are investigating into all possible Kendrapara links of the arrested terrorist," said sub-divisional police officer Purna Chandra Pradhan.
Vigil has been intensified and the police are keeping watch on madrasas.
It is been probed whether Rahman had ever visited to any of the madarsas in Kendrapara, the cop said.
