In a major crackdown against the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), at least 13 of its top leaders including some state chiefs were arrested
INDORE: In a major crackdown against the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), at least 13 of its top leaders including some state chiefs were arrested by Madhya Pradesh Police for allegedly being involved in weapons procurement and illegal financing of the outfit.
Among those arrested as part of a special police operation that began on Wednesday night and was continuing, were SIMI leader in Madhya Pradesh, Safdar Nagori and his brother and chief of the operations in Andhra Pradesh Kamruddin.
The outfit's top leaders in Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were also nabbed, police sources said, adding that intelligence agencies had been keeping tabs on the activities on the banned Islamist group here for quite sometime.
Describing the operation as a "big achievement for the police," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Bhopal that "weapons and computers have been found... Investigations are on into SIMI's plans to expand its network in the state...This is a major achievement and SIMI's network will be eradicated".
He said the SIMI leaders arrested included those from Kerala and Karnataka but did not give further details.
Police sources said during the operation, weapons, money and objectionable literature have been seized from the activists who were nabbed from different parts of Indore and neighbouring Dhar district.
Intelligences agencies have been keeping tabs on activities of the banned organisation in Indore for the last few months, the sources said, adding top SIMI leaders were noticed visiting a flat in Indore on several occasions.
Some of the activists were arrested from Pithampur in Dhar district, a few km away from Army's Hema Range, they said.
The sources said heads of different wings of SIMI involved in publicity, weapons procurement and financing were also taken into custody. SIMI, they said, had increased its activities in Madhya Pradesh during recent years.
Madhya Pradesh SIMI leader Safdar Nagori, son of retired assistant sub-inspector of police, had been absconding since the ban was imposed on the outfit on September 27, 2001.
He is facing cases of spreading religious discord and certain other serious charges since 1997-98.
Police sources said as many as 33 cases were registered against SIMI activists in various districts in the state before the group was proscribed.
Police in Bangalore has been giving serious attention to SIMI's network after the 2006 Mumbai serial bombings after a leader of the outfit in Maharashtra was allegedly involved in attacks said to be backed by terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Several of SIMI's activists including software engineers and medical students have been under the scanner of the security forces and have been arrested on various charges.
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