The Ahle Hadees

At Champa Chowk, between the heat and dust of a bustling market place, a quiet marble structure rises up. Inside the mosque, young students are being taught the basics of Arabic and the teachings of the Koran.

Ahmad claims that the mosque and madarsa runs on 8220;some donations and the fee of Rs 20 collected per student per month8221;. And yet, the mosque is not registered with the Maharashtra Wakf Board and has been slapped with a notice recently.

8220;We have given them a month to explain why they have not registered any of their four mosques in Aurangabad with the Board,8221; says M Y Patel, CEO of the Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs. 8220;It is mandatory for them and it also gives us a chance to audit their finances. Punitive action under the Wakf Act can also be taken.8221;

At the other end of the RDX trail, which took the anti-terrorist squad into the bylanes of Malegaon, there are 11 Ahle Hadees mosques. Malegaon is also the regional headquarter of the group. Ironically, Chaggan Bhujbal gave the group a clean chit when their name figured in the Ghatkopar blast case in 2002.