Kureshi, however, maintained that he was innocent and that the books were meant for distribution. However, he could not explain how the books were being distributed on a Sunday evening.

Kureshi claimed that not less than 11,000 students were studying in the madrasas run by him. Mishra admitted there was no monitoring or periodical inspection of these institutions.

Only madrasas registered with the Bhopal-based Madhya Pradesh State Madrasa Board are covered under the SSA. Board chairman Mohammed Gani Ansari said that the seizure was a result of rivalry between the madrasa operators.

Ansari said, “Only the court can bring out the truth in the matter.”

According to him, it was only an accident that the books were found from an industrial area, and denied that the enrolment figures were faked. He said he had sought a report from a board member, who belongs to the town.

Last year, thousands of SSA books were found from a scrap depot in Betul. Then additional director of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission, Santosh Mishra, who probed the matter, had recommended a bigger inquiry because he suspected the racket was bigger than it looked. Books were also recovered from Dhar and Jhabua among other places. Mishra had also hinted that books were over-ordered by showing fake enrolments.