The residents of Sithio village, infamous for being a hub of Ranchi Module of Indian Muzahideen (IM), are in a fix over attending the rally of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to be organized at Prabhat Tara Schoolat HEC campus.
Apparently due to security concerns, the villagers have decided to keep away from the rally. "You know the current scenario…. it would not be wise to attend Modiji's rally as there could be a security threat to us," said a retired post office staff requesting anonymity.
"Being a person from this village which was recently linked with the Patna serial blasts, anyone if identified may be targeted by the mob of thousands of people," he added.
Sithio, situated at the outskirts of the capital, happens to be hardly 5 km away from the Prabhat Tara ground.
The BJP has decided to hold the rally at HEC ground on December 29 after the district administration refused to allot centrally located Morhabadi ground.
Some of the villagers lamented that they were also hurt with the damage caused by the media reports branding Sithio as a village of terrorists in order to create sensation.
"Kis muh se jayenge wahan, jabki kaha ja raha hai ki yahin ke kuch ladkon ne unke Rally me Bum lagaya tha (How can we go there after having been alleged of planting bombs in Modiji's Rally at Patna)," said another villager Sayeed who works as a painter on daily wages. It would not be advisable for anyone of us to go there as it will create a sense of suspicion among those attending the Rally also," said Sayeed.
"The situation may turn very ugly for us in the rally if something goes wrong," he said.
"As there is a wave in favour of Modiji in the country and he is the strongest contender for the post of prime minister, we also wanted to hear him, but this will not be safe for us," he said. "As we have seen the unexpected price rise of all items, let us give a chance to Modi," he pointed out.
Village headman Shankar Kacchap, on the other hand, said that the villagers are so much disappointed with the role played by some of the youths in the Patna blasts, that they have become least enthusiastic to attend any such programme. "The repercussion of the mistake committed by two or three youths is being felt by all of us and are still not able to forget it," said Kacchap.
The residents of Sithio, who find themselves pitch forked into unfamiliar territory, are unable to come to the terms with an allegation that the village groomed at least six suspected operatives of Indian Mujahideen. The investigating agencies as well as local police are making regular visits to the village hunting for IM suspects.
All the four suspects —Mohammad Imtiaz Ansari, Mohammad Tarique Ansari, Mohammed Toufiqe Ansari and Mohmmad Noman —belong to Sithio, where the conspiracy to Patna attack was hatched.
The prime suspect in the blasts — Tarique, who died at a hospital in Patna on October 31, also hailed from Sithio. Police earlier had also claimed that IM had set up a Ranchi module in the village itself.
Vulnerability of Jharkhand as a potential terror threat was first established in 2002 after the two Pakistani terrorists - Zahid and Salim, allegedly involved in the attack on American Centre at Kolkata, were gunned down at Khirgaon, Hazaribagh. Another suspected IM operative Manzar Imam, allegedly involved in 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts was arrested from Ranchi in March this year.
Related report on Page 3