The Madhya Pradesh Police had arrested the activists from a flat in Indore on Thursday where they had gathered for their annual meeting. The IB had tipped the MP Police about the presence of SIMI activists wanted in connection with several cases of blasts across the nation in the last few years.

The police first looked for the activists in and around the industrial town of Pithampur on Wednesday and succeeded in nabbing them from a rented flat. As many as 13 pistols, cash and cartridges were recovered from the activists who could not offer any resistance as they were asleep.

Dhar SP Chanchal Shekhar said the case was not registered in Indore, from where the activists were held, but in Pithampur because the original information was that they could be hiding in the industrial town.