According to the Khadims, Abedin’s role as a Diwan is limited to organising qawwali programmes at the holy shrine every Thursday and during the annual Urs, for which he is paid. Much to their dislike, Abedin has been demanding a share of the dargah’s earnings.

Late last night, hours after the blast, the dispute turned ugly. Abedin was attacked by a group of Khadims at the dargah when he started lashing out at the Khadims holding them responsible for the bomb blast. “I wanted enough security measures at the dargah but the Khadims resisted. Many of them have connections with the underworld.” Denying these allegations, Kibria said Abedin wanted “cheap publicity.”

The government’s response: “They are forever fighting and we need to concentrate on the investigations rather than their infighting.”

The fight between the Khadims, the Diwan and the Government-appointed nominees is at the heart of the mismanagement at the dargah. Prompted by a PIL in the Delhi High Court and countless complaints, the report of an inquiry panel under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, resulted in an overhaul of the dargah’s management a few weeks ago.

The seven-member panel — Ghayur-e-Alam in the chair and Firoz Bakht Ahmed as convenor — indicted those managing the dargah at the time. A report submitted by Bakht found instances of “misconduct of authority, irregularities, misappropriation of funds, illegal constructions, encroachments and mismanagement of the affairs by the dargah committee members.”

It made 30 key recommendations and accused the members of the dargah committee in the strongest terms calling them “inactive, unconcerned, erratic, numb and prejudicial”. Another report submitted by a panel member M R Haq called for “preferably a new Act providing a better scheme of management of dargah” and “continuous monitoring.”