After MHA alert,hunt begins for 80 SIMI men from state

Sources said these men have been missing from their native places since the Government of India imposed a ban on the outfit in 2002. The organisation had camp offices in most districts of UP before the ban.

A senior official of UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said that many of these 80-odd SIMI members were reportedly staying outside UP and have been holding meetings in Mumbai,Kerala,Karnataka,Ujjain,Indore,Lucknow and Azamgarh.

Prominent among those on the ATS radar are Kaleem Akhtar,Abdul Kareem,Mohammad Ali and Kamran of Lucknow and Misbahul Islam,Shah Alam,Abu Said,Khalid and Ata-ur-Rehman of Azamgarh. They all served on various posts in the national core team of SIMI,led by Safdar Nagori of Ujjain,he said.

The agency is also searching for Hafiz,Asif,Aamil Parwaj,Alla Baksh,Yahya,Sageer,Mohammad Sadiq,Anwar and Irshad Khan who are also from UP and had been office-bearers of national SIMI team.

The ATS official said that most of the 80-odd SIMI men are believed to be living under fake names and are regrouping.

The official recalled that SIMI operative Abu Bashar of Azamgarh,who was arrested from Lucknow on August 16,2008 for his alleged role in Gujarat blasts of 2008,had first revealed about the existence of Indian Mujahideen (IM) and its role in various blasts across the country since 2005.

Bashar had also told the police the SIMI had played a role in providing logistic support to IM in triggering blasts in Gujarat,Jaipur and Delhi in 2008 and in the serial blasts in Uttar Pradesh courts in November,2007. Bashar had visited Gujarat twice before the serial blasts and had played a role in indoctrinating SIMI members who carried out the blasts.

Another SIMI operative Shahbaz Ahmed was arrested from the Maulviganj area of Lucknow on August 25,2008. Shahbaz had allegedly played a role in the IM operation in triggering blasts at Jaipur.

Besides,the Jaipur Crime Branch has also accused Shahbaz for sending the email taking responsibility for the blasts,and flashing photographs of the blasts.

A SIMI operative Mohammad Asad landed in ATS net in Mumbai on February 25. He was wanted in a blast case of 2000 in Kanpur. He has been brought to Lucknow and is undergoing interrogation.