Owners of students' messes in Jhenidah are alarmed after two militants linked with the recent terror attacks were found to have lived at a local's house for months and left it just before the incidents. 

The house owner at Sonalipara, Kausar Ali, a 50-year-old retired employee of Bangladesh Army, and his two sons were picked up on July 6 by the Rapid Action Battalion and police, Kausar's wife Bilkis Nahar said earlier.

Talking to The Daily Star, those who have rented out rooms in their houses to students said they fear that they might find themselves in a similar situation.

At Sonalipara, there are 20-25 students' messes. Most of the owners said they were unaware of militants hiding in one of the messes.

Days after the July 1 attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital's Gulshan, Bilkis and some local people identified Nibras Islam, one of the terrorists killed during the siege, from pictures published in the media. 

Nibras had identified himself as Sayeed and stayed in Kausar's house for around four months until June 28, according to Bilkis.

Another militant Abir Rahman killed during an exchange of fire with police at Sholakia in Kishoreganj on Eid day has also been identified as one who resided with Nibras and six others at Kausar's place. Nibras had introduced Abir as his cousin.

The local youths who played football with Nibras (Sayeed) said Abir was gentle. He did not participate in any sport, talked less and sat by the side of the field where they used to play.

A local woman who used to cook three times for four, including Nibras and Abir, of the eight tenants of Kausar identified Abir as Sayeed's cousin from a picture shown by the correspondent yesterday.

Abir had been missing for four months, his family said. 

However, the family filed a general diary (GD) with Bhatra police in the capital on July 06, a day before he was killed at Sholakia.

Seeing his photo on Facebook and in the media, his family confirmed that Abir died in the Sholakia attack. He was a student of BBA of North-South University and lived in Bashundhara residential area in Dhaka, according to the GD.

Another mess owner, Shariful Islam of Sonalipara said he was panicked by the thought that militants might be staying in his house as tenants.

“If so, I will face troubles like Kausar Ali. Fearing this, I have asked students to leave my mess as soon as possible.”

Another mess owner requesting not to be named said he had asked his tenants to leave his house within 15 days. “I will rent out my rooms to families instead of students.”

The Daily Star correspondent tried to talk to Bilkis yesterday but she did not open the gate.

From inside, she said her family was under pressure but did not explain further.