Blasts: ATS likely to question SIMI activists

MUMBAI: Mumbai Police is likely to question activists of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the city in connection with the serial bomb blasts in suburban trains and did not rule out use of RDX in the attacks, police sources said on Wednesday.

With central intelligence agencies suspecting that SIMI may have executed the blasts with the help of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant outfit, the Mumbai Police has geared up to detain the activists and interrogate them, police sources said.

Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS) and Mumbai Police sources said SIMI activists had provided logistics support to LeT members during the 2002-03 blasts, and the possibility cannot be ruled out that this time too the banned outfit may have assisted the LeT in executing the blasts.

Sources said the ATS was shortlisting SIMI activists in Mumbai -- those who have a past criminal record as well as those who have been noticed for furthering SIMI activities covertly. These activists are likely to be interrogated, sources said.

"It is not necessary that those shortlisted may have actually participated in the blasts or have provided support to the perpetrators. But their interrogation will certainly provide some valuable leads, including clues, about missing SIMI members," ATS sources said.

Meanwhile, the ATS is waiting for the forensic reports on the exact nature of the explosives used in the blasts. "We have received a number of samples and each of them is being examined," forensic experts said here on Wednesday.