Author: Staff Reporter
Publication: Gomantak Times
Date: July 14, 2006
Even as various investigating agencies have
launched intensive operations through out the country in search of the terrorists
who engineered the July 11 serial bomb blast in Mumbai, the Maharashtra police
are concentrating on hunting down missing activists of the banned Students
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) organisation, with special focus on Solapur
and Aurangabad.
After an alert was sounded in Maharashtra,
the Solapur police questioned 99 persons, including SIMI activists, a senior
police official said. Those questioned have a record of being involved in
communal riots or of associating with SIMI, sources said.
Though the Solapur police have not found anything
in connection with the blast, sources said that four SIMI activists were missing
from the city and that a manhunt had been launched.
Similarly, in Auranagabad, where a huge cache
of arms and explosives were seized recently, the police said that they had
interrogated a few people but did not uncover anything consequential.
There were reports that a few SIMI activists
were missing and that a search was on to find their whereabouts, Auranagabad
police sources said.
Police in Malegaon town of Nasik haven't located
any suspects yet and are maintaining a strict vigil.
Though the police remain tight-lipped about
the blasts probe, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has reportedly intensified
its operation through out Maharashtra and raided suspected terrorists hideouts.
However, reports of missing SIMI activists
are keeping the police on tenterhooks, Mumbai Police chief A N Roy admitted.
He said that some members of the outlawed organisation were under the scanner.
"SIMI does not exist today but we are looking into different aspects.
Some people who have been associated with SIMI are under our scanner,"
he said.
All these efforts point to the fact that security
agencies clearly view SIMI as a key cog in the terror machinery.
However, ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi did not
elaborate much about the probe. "We are trying our best and will soon
have results."
Meanwhile, SIMI's former chief Shaid Badar
denied any role in the 7/11 attacks.
reporters@gomantaktimes.com
