Until Sunday afternoon, Sithio was a village known for people living peacefully bereft of the storm that was about to hit them on the fateful evening. The nondescript village shot to limelight following serial bomb blasts that shook Patna during a BJP rally and led the National Investigating Agency (NIA) to the doorstep of a fellow villager, leaving other residents of Sithio in a state of utter disbelief.
The residents of Sithio, under Namkum block, were at a loss of words when asked about the link to the low intensity serial bomb blasts that rocked Patna, prompting the police to raid the village. The raid to nab the suspects started at around 4 pm and lasted till 8 pm. Police recovered one set of pressure cooker, 250 gm gunpowder, 68 small plastic bottles, coils fixed with fuse, jehadi literature featuring Osama-bin-laden’s photo, mobiles and 11 SIM cards.
“We did not know until 6 pm that a team of police is conducting raids in the village. Around 10 pm we came to know that the raids were actually in connection with Patna bomb blast,” said a resident of Sithio.
The village has a population of 5385 with a majority of minorities and is situated at around 15 km from Ranchi. Connected through dilapidated roads the village has around 150 houses and a Primary Urdu School besides a panchayat bhawan.
Imtiyaz, who was arrested by the Patna police for the blast, has been living with his father Md. Kamaluddin in a 30-room house alongwith five other siblings.
While Kamaluddin is said to have retired from HEC, Imtiyaz’s four brothers are said to be working as suppliers to HEC. Imtiyaz is said to be around 25 years of age while rest of the accused are minors.
The residents looked unwilling to accept that the youngsters would resort to terrorist activities bringing disrepute to the village. The accused in the case had no criminal records and never exhibited suspicious activities, echoed a group of villagers. Imtiyaz, the prime accused was said to have inclination to religious activities and was never seen mingling with suspicious people.
“He was good at reciting namaz and was running a kirana store near his house. So, what has happened is difficult to fathom. He rarely moved out of his house,” said a village-based tailor.
Once a buzzing village, streets of Sithio looked deserted due to its supposed connection with Indian Mujahideen (IM), a terrorist outfit. The raids reminded people of the search operation earlier conducted in Ranchi to arrest notorious IM operative Manzar Imam, a name which they feel would spell trouble for them in times to come.
“Although they are angry and sad because of the incident, they are more concerned about link with the IM,” confided a villager reluctantly.
Interestingly, while some people were cautious on what to say others remained tightlipped about the accused and reacted angrily when asked to share details of the accused. “Why do you want information about him. leave us alone,” said a youngster when asked about Imtiyaz.
According to reports, the villagers have expressed their unhappiness over unwanted media highlights and chased away few reporters who went to know their views on the accused.