How and when did two brothers go from being considered “good, decent boys” to terror suspects in the UK terror plot is the question teachers, friends and neighbours of Kafeel Ahmed, 28, and Sabeel Ahmed, 26, are asking in the light of Sabeel’s arrest and indications that his brother is the bomb-maker.

However, there are some who claim to have seen a religious side that was radical in the two brothers, especially in their late teens and early 20s. A teacher at the Aurobindo High School in Banashankari, where Kafeel studied from Std VIII to Std X in 1992-94, described him as “a quiet, above-average boy, who fit into the school quite easily despite coming from another country.” Kafeel had studied at the Indian Embassy School in Damman, Saudi Arabia, before his parents brought him to India as they wanted him to pursue higher studies here.

Kafeel went on to do a pre-university course at the National College, Basavangudi, completing the course in 1996, and finished his engineering course at a Davangere college in 2000. His engineering teachers described him as “studious and well-behaved.”

Worshippers at the Hazrat Tippu mosque, opposite the family’s house, say the first indication that the brothers may have taken to radicalism was in 2001, before Kafeel’s first trip to the UK.

“The mosque had been decorated for Id with lights. The sons of Dr Maqbool Ahmed objected to the lights saying it is un-Islamic,” said mosque secretary Samiullah. “We told them not to come around with such messages again. After that they stayed off.”

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