Bhubaneswar: A day after suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist Abdul Rehman’s arrest, the Mass Education department on Thursday asked the district education officer (DEO), Cuttack to submit a detailed report on the madrasa run by Rehman in Teruan village under Tangi police limits in the district.
“I came to know that it (madrasa) was run privately by Rehman, who has been arrested by the Delhi police for his alleged links with Al-Qaeda. I have asked the DEO to submit a detailed report on the madrasa,” Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra told media persons here.
Asked about the government’s recognition of the madrasa, the minister said, “The Madrasa Board had requested us to place it under the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department. But in August this year, the department expressed its inability to accommodate the institutions and urged us to keep these with us till it is equipped completely.”
Mishra stated that the institution would be asked to shut if found to be running without government permission.
Sources said the residential madrasa had around 85 students of whom 80 were from Jharkhand. Sources added Rehman could be using the institution for radicalisation of students and recruitment in terror outfits.
Following the Wednesday incident, parents and guardians were today seen visiting the madrasa in the non-descript village to assess the condition of their children after Rehman’s arrest.
Zia-ul-Khan, a parent who was in a shock after knowing the cleric’s alleged links with a international terrorist organisation, said, “I still do not believe that a scholar like Rehman has connection with a terrorist organisation. I am taking back my son to my village.”
Asked if he would like to send him to the madrasa again in future, he said, “I don’t think I will be able to send him (son) here again after what has come to light.”