Activities of banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Gujarat & Kerala seemed to be just the tip of iceberg as more information gets revealed about activities across the country.

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Activities of banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Gujarat & Kerala seemed to be just the tip of iceberg as more information gets revealed about activities across the country. Training camps of the were held in various parts of the country, besides Kerala and Halol in Gujarat prior to July 26 Ahemdabad serial blasts, according to crime branch officials. SIMI camps were also held in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh and Dharwad district of Karnataka, officials conducting interrogations of the suspects said. These training camps were similar to those held in Kerala (December 2007) and Halol (January 2008) where SIMI workers from different states participated, officials said, adding, they were trained in pistol firing, rock climbing, map reading and other activities.

During the process of interrogation of the suspects it came to light that computer expert Taufiqe Bilal, whose real name is Abdul Subhan, believed to be one of the masterminds behind the serial blasts, was publisher and editor of magazine 'Islamic Movement', published from New Delhi, crime branch officials said. Subhan alias Taufiq is wanted in over five cases by police of different states, they said. He was wanted in a blast case in Mumbai and a case against SIMI in Surat, they added. The Mumbai-based computer expert, believed to be the one who had sent email in the name of 'Indian Mujahidin', is also wanted for making inflammatory speeches on communal riots in the Gujarat and other states.

Centre urges Supreme Court to extend stay on SIMI ban

Meanwhile, Centre urged the apex court to extend its stay on a tribunal's order lifting the ban imposed on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) charged with indulging in terrorist activities, including the recent Ahmedabad and Bangalore blasts. Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam who made an impromptu mention of the issue before a bench of Justices B N Aggrawal, G S Singhvi and J M Panchal, submitted that the matter which was scheduled to be heard on August 22 was not listed in the cause list (which carries details of cases scheduled to be taken up by a court on a particular day).

To justify the claim to extend stay, the ASG submitted that the "matter was of great importance" and the stay, if not extended, would adversely affect the country's interests. However, the air was cleared after the registry officials informed the bench that the matter was listed for hearing on August 25. On August 6, a bench headed by the Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan stayed a special tribunal order that had earlier ordered lifting restrictions on its activities. The apex court had also issued notice to SIMI and posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.

It has also come to known that the Centre has complained to the apex court that the tribunal set up under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, in its 263-page order has not expressed anything on the merits of the case even when the government had provided Intelligence Bureau reports pointing towards members of SIMI indulging in terrorist activities. "Being a group of students and youth, SIMI is easily influenced by hardcore Muslim terrorist organisations operating from Jammu and Kashmir. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Toiba have successfully penetrated into SIMI cadre to achieve their goals," the Government had contended during the earlier hearing.

The tribunal headed by Delhi High Court judge, Justice Geeta Mittal, had on August 5 quashed the February 7 notification of the Centre extending the ban on SIMI till 2010 saying no new evidence was placed against the organisation to justify the ban. SIMI, banned since 2001, has been under the scanner of security and intelligence agencies for terror attacks in various parts of the country including the recent blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The ban was first imposed on SIMI in 2001 under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act and since then it has been extended after every two years. The February 7 notification issued by the government was the fourth extension of the ban.