At present, the agency is examining the laptop to locate any kind of suspicious data. Mau resident Sariq has been advised not to leave the city without informing the local police. “The laptop has been formatted hence it does not contain any data of before February 5. We are trying to retrieve those data,” said an ATS official.

On Saturday evening, three ATS sleuths, after getting a tip-off from the Central agencies and Delhi Police, conducted a search at Sariq’s Mau-based institute — Web.Software Institute.

“Six computers were installed in the institute but only one computer had internet connection and that is presently in our procession. The other computers were used for teaching,” said another senior officer of the ATS. He added they came to know that the laptop was always in the possession of Sariq and interenet was being used through data card. Central Intelligence agencies started a probe after Advani informed the Home ministry that he had received a death threat on his website. The sender had identified himself as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.