A’bad cops detain SIMI suspects

AHMEDABAD: At least 14 youth, allegedly connected with the banned extremist outfit SIMI, have been detained for interrogation here by the Ahmedabad police's anti-terrorist squad (ATS) since Friday evening.

While the police and ATS authorities are tight-lipped on the developments in the case, informed sources said that "14 young men belonging to the minority community in Ahmedabad have been detained since Friday evening for interrogation. It is believed that they had strong SIMI links."

Despite a ban, SIMI has always been active in Gujarat. When DNA visited SIMI's office in the Muslim-dominated Shahpur area of the city on Saturday, the shutters of the office were down. But through a crack in the window one could see people inside.

The neighbourhood seemed to be on high alert due to heavy police patrolling. It is known that SIMI is still operational in various parts of Gujarat besides Ahmedabad, particularly in Bharuch, Modasa, Vadodara and Godhra. Initial reports coming from these areas suggest that the SIMI activists in Bharuch are fleeing the state after the Mumbai blasts.

In the past, as many as 123 SIMI activists were arrested by the police in Surat for organising a conference a few years back. At least nine cases have been registered against the outfit and its members in Ahmedabad itself after its ban in 2001.