Safdar Nagori was not always a hardliner

1992 riots led him to extremism

INDORE: Safdar Nagori-the former general secretary of the Simi and currently lodged in Madhya Pradesh (MP)’s Rewa jail, wasn’t a hardliner during his early student days in the 1980s.

Born in Ujjain district’s Mahedpur village in 1969, Nagori turned hardline after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, and the subsequent riots, which led him to join Simi in 1993 as a member.

Interestingly, Safdar’s father, Gahiruddhin retired as an assistant sub inspector in 2005 after serving the Ujjain police’s crime branch.

His father disowned Nagori after learning of his activities. Nagori’s records with the police reveal that he completed his Masters in Journalism from Ujjain’s Vikram University in 1999 and was a merit holder. Even during his campus days at the university, he was Simi’s state president.

In 1998, the first FIR was lodged against him in Indore, resulting in his arrest and subsequent release, following which he went underground. The second FIR and arrest was made in 2001 at Ujjain’s Mahal police station.

Nagori was later brought to the Indore Central Jail (ICJ) in 2001. He was moved to Rewa jail a fortnight back after the MP government decided not to keep all those accused for terror activities in the state in the same jail despite being lodged in separate barracks.

As per a government order, of the eight accused lodged in ICJ, four were recently moved to Hubli, one to Rewa and the rest were retained at Indore.

The MP government had made tight security arrangements in all district jails, official sources said.
s_deepesh@dnaindia.net