The house: L-18, Jamia Nagar

Other than Atif, the four others were enrolled in spoken English courses in private institutes, police sources said. A builder flat, the fourth floor of L-18 was sold to one Raeez Ahmad. The five alleged militants had rented flat number 108 from Ahmad, a police officer said.

8220;The three identified militants are from Sarai Meer area of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh,8221; the officer said. 8220;Their leader, Atif, had left his hometown and came to the Capital for further studies. The five were responsible for manufacturing bombs used in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi blasts.8221;

Police sources said according to information, 12 people regularly visited the apartment, and the five 8220;more or less8221; resided in the place.

Residents of the area, however, denied the presence of more than five people in the apartment. 8220;They always carried books and other study material; they looked like proper students,8221; Maseeh Alam, a lawyer who lives in the same block, said. 8220;They did not create any disturbance and kept to themselves.

8220;No one in the area had any problem with them.8221;

A few first-year Jamia Millia Islamia students, who live on the first floor of the building, told Newsline that the five had moved in barely two months ago. 8220;All I know about them was that they were students,8221; one student, who did not want to be named, said. 8220;One man visited them regularly 8212; he looked like a maulana.

8220;The lights in their apartment often stayed on till about 3 am. But that did not seem out of place since a lot of students live in this area.8221;