Azamgarh, the terror nursery in eastern UP

AZAMGARH: Azamgarh, the small town in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and has earned a notoriety as a nursery of terror, is said to be home to a dozen activists of the banned SIMI.
      
Once known for Hindu-Muslim synergy and high intellect, Azamgarh is has come to be known as terror's breeding ground, because it has provided a very fertile land for the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) and other such outfits to flourish.
      
Top intelligence and police officials now say that the arrest of Abu Bashir, a top SIMI activist, from the Saraimir area here, was not merely a coincidence but  may the first of many such arrests.
      
"There are many SIMI operatives in eastern UP but about two dozen of them are quite active. They are very active at certain times but mostly they are dormant. About a dozen of them belong to Azamgarh," the officials said.
      
"We cannot pick them up without direct evidence of their involvement in the anti national activities," they added.
      
They feel It is not surprising that the two terrorists, Atif and Sajid, who were killed  and  Mohammad Saif, who was apprehended  in the Delhi encounter on Friday, belonged to Azamgarh district, said a top police official of Uttar Pradesh, who did not not want to be identified.
      
There are a number of sleeper cells of SIMI which can be activated at any time and they are the real problem, they said.