The information included the names and address of Lucknow resident Shahbaz Hussain and the fact that he had attended several important SIMI meetings in Mumbai, Kolkata, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerela and UP between 2004 and February 2008.

DGP of Madhya Pradesh SK Raut said: “An IG rank officer accompanied by a team from UP Police was there with us during interrogation. They all had referred the name of Shahbaz and other UP-based activists.”

But the UP Police did not act on the information, nor kept a close watch on him. Later, Rajasthan Police arrested Shahbaz from Lucknow for his involvement in blasts which took place in Jaipur on May 13.

Jain denied that a team had gone to MP. He said: “We were keeping a watch on Shahbaz for over eight months. The moment the Jaipur police mentioned his name, we helped them in arresting Shahbaz.” He added that they had no reason to lay their hands on Shahbaz — this despite the fact that belonged to a banned organisation.

Shahbaz was no ordinary SIMI activist. Nagori revealed that he had been elected president of a split faction of SIMI in a meeting held at Hubli in Karnataka on April 25, 2007, and had been organising all important activities of SIMI from Lucknow. Shibli, a native of Kottayam, had visited Shahbaz’s Maulviganj residence in Lucknow six times between 2006 and 2008; his last visit was on February 18.