Author: Debasish Panigrahi
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 16, 2006
The Banned Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI) may have ceased to exist as an organisation but its cadres, sympathiser
base and activities continue to thrive.
A former SIMI leader from Mumbai, who walked
out of the organisation much before the ban, revealed that SIMI in Mumbai
continues to flourish in the city under various names like the Tehrik-e-Ahiya-Ummad,
Nehjatul Ulma and the Dawa Cell.
Of these, Tehrik is the most active with maximum
members. According to a conservative estimate, the Tehrik has as many as 200
active senior members (Ansars) and more than 500 new recruits (Akhwans). SIMI
in Mumbai was headquartered in Kurla (West). The office is still sealed following
the ban in 2001.
The former SIMI activist said following the
Gujarat riots, its cadres regrouped and the organisation got a direction it
began a reactionary revenge mission.
Months after the Gujarat riots, Mumbai was
rocked by a series of blasts, beginning with the Ghatkopar BEST bus bomb blast
on December 2, 2002. It was followed by a spate of blasts on suburban trains.
The worst came on August 25, 2003 when the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar
witnessed blasts.
The Crime Branch immediately swung into action
and in quick succession, arrested over two dozen accused, a majority of whom
were former SIMI activists. The biggest catch was Saquib Nachen, a former
SIMI national general secretary who was responsible for giving the organisation
a radical touch at the behest of his mentor and former national president
of SIMI, Chand Ahmad Mohammad Bashir.
Nachen had served a 10-year sentence under
the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act for his links with
terror groups.
Even in the recent arms haul at Malegaon and
Aurangabad, the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) established a common bond among
the accused -- old affiliation with SIMI. The key accused, Sayyad Zabiuddin
Sayyad Zakiuddin alias Zabi alias Zabi Ansari of Beed, who still remains elusive,
had allegedly motivated the others for the terror plan that proved abortive.
Police sources said part of the same arms
and explosives consignment was used in the suburban railway blasts in Mumbai
on July 11. However, the identity of the operatives who executed the blasts
still remains a mystery, though the needle of suspicion still points to SIMI,
or its new avtaar.
The sources said the accused in the Malegaon-Aurangabad
arms haul case, including Zabi, would hold regular meetings on Sundays at
a mosque in Aurangabad. It was in one of these meetings that the 'revenge
mission' was planned, allegedly on the direction of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's
northern commander Junaid.
