The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), proscribed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is an Islamist fundamentalist organization, which advocates the liberation of India by converting it to an Islamic land. The SIMI, an organisation of young extremist students has declared Jihad against India, the aim of which is to establish Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam) by either forcefully converting everyone to Islam or by violence.
Formation
The SIMI was formed at Aligarh in the State of Uttar Pradesh on April 25, 1977. Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, Professor of Journalism and Public Relations at the Western Illinois University Macomb, Illinois, was the founding President of the outfit. It originally emerged as a student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). The alliance, however, lasted only till 1981, when SIMI activists protested against Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat's visit to India, and greeted him with black flags in New Delhi. Young SIMI activists identified Arafat as a western puppet, while the senior JIH leaders saw Arafat as a champion of the cause of Palestine. JIH decided to abandon SIMI and floated a new student wing, the Students Islamic Organization (SIO).
Objectives and Ideology
Governing of human life on the basis of the Holy Quran
Propagation of Islam
Jehad for the cause of Islam
SIMI also attempts to utilize the youth in the propagation of Islam and also to mobilize support for Jihad and establish a Shariat-based Islamic rule through "Islami Inqulab". As the organization does not believe in a nation-state, it does not believe in the Indian Constitution or the secular order. SIMI also regards idol worship as a sin and considers it to be a holy duty to terminate idol worship.
SIMI is widely believed to be against Hinduism, western beliefs and ideals, as well as other anti-Islamic cultures. Among its various objectives, the SIMI aims to counter what it believes is the increasing moral degeneration, sexual anarchy in the Indian society as also the insensitiveness of a decadent west. Ideologically, SIMI maintains that the concepts of secularism, democracy and nationalism, keystones of the Indian Constitution, are antithetical to Islam. Parallel to its rejection of secularism, democracy and nationalism is its oft-repeated objective of restoration of the 'khilafat', emphasis on 'ummah' (Muslim brotherhood), and the need for a Jehad to establish the supremacy of Islam.
The outfit is known to have adopted an extremist and militant posture on various issues of concern to the Muslim community.
According to the SIMI, Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is an outstanding example of a true Mujahid, who has undertaken Jihad on behalf of the 'ummah'.
SIMI's interpretation of Islam is influenced to a great extent by the writings of Syed Abul A'ala Maududi, founder of the Jamaat-e Islami.
According to the scholar Yoginder Sikand, Nationalism, for SIMI, is seen as a false idol, and one devised by the non-Muslim 'enemies of the faith' to divide the Muslims and thereby weaken them. All non-Muslims are branded by the SIMI as 'kafirs', and no distinction is made among them. Because the 'enemies of God' are expected to show stiff resistance to Islam, violent Jihad is to be waged.
Leadership
Dr Shahid Badar Falah functioned as the national president and Safdar Nagori as the general secretary till the organization was proscribed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002. The Delhi Police arrested Falah on September 28, 2001, from its office in the Zakir Nagar area of Delhi and he has subsequently been charged with sedition and inciting communal disharmony in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
Similarly, on March 27, 2008, SIMI general secretary Safdar Nagori, absconding since September 27, 2001, was arrested along with 12 other cadres of the outfit from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Among the arrested was Safdar's brother Kamruddin Nagori. Safdar Nagori has been named in a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities Act, registered at the New Friends Colony Police station in South Delhi. He is alleged to have established links with the operatives of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistans external intelligence agency, and other Islamist fundamentalist leaders in a bid to revive SIMI cadres under the umbrella of a different outfit.
Mohammad Aamir, the chief of SIMI's Uttar Pradesh (UP) State unit and the prime accused in the Kanpur riots of March 16, surrendered before a metropolitan magistrate on April 25, 2006.
Another top SIMI leader Abul Bashar Qasmi, who had taken over the control of the outfit after Safdar Nagori's arrest, was arrested on August 16, 2008 from a village in Azamgarh in UP by a joint team of the UP and Gujarat Police. Qasmi allegedly was the mastermind behind the July 26, 2008 Ahmedabad (Gujarat) serial bomb blasts,
Linkages and Areas of Operation
SIMI reportedly secures generous financial assistance from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Riyadh, and also maintains close links with the International Islamic Federation of Students' Organizations (IIFSO) in Kuwait. It also receives generous funds from contacts in Pakistan.
The Chicago-based Consultative Committee of Indian Muslims is also reported to have supported SIMI morally and financially.
The SIMI has links with the Jamaat-e-Islam (JeI) units in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. It also has a close working relationship with the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the students wing of the JeI in Bangladesh. The SIMI is also alleged to have close links with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), and the ISI.
Beginning the autumn of 2000, SIMI cadres were known to have undergone training with the HM cadres in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). At least three Jalgaon (in Maharashtra) residents Sheikh Asif Supdu, Sheikh Khalid Iqbal and Sheikh Mohammad Hanif are believed to have died in shootouts with Indian troops near Kishtwar in J&K.
Certain SIMI leaders are reported to have close links with Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed. SIMI activists, over the years, have also become a vital part of the LeT's grand plans for destabilisation in India.
SIMI also maintains ties with the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B).
SIMI is also reportedly involved in a continuous recruitment drive for the HuJI-B in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ambedkar Nagar, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Sonauli, Ferozabad and Hathras areas. Further, SIMI cadres, sources indicate, are involved in the safe transportation of explosives and creation of channels for funds and securing safe houses for the HuJI-B cadres.
Groups of SIMI sympathizers reportedly exist in several places in the Gulf States. Jamayyatul Ansar, an organisation of SIMI activists comprising expatriate Indian Muslims, reportedly operates in Saudi Arabia.
Several Islamist fundamentalist organisations in India are allegedly controlled by former SIMI cadres. Prominent among them are the Kerala-based National Democratic Front and Islamic Youth Centre (IYC), and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) in Tamil Nadu.
According to official sources, in the year 1993 following the arrest of a Sikh terrorist, it was revealed that SIMI cadres, Sikh and Kashmiri terrorists, had been brought together by the ISI through the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan to carry out subversive activities.
The outfit is currently regarded as having a national presence with strong bases in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra (Aurangabad, Malegaon, Jalgaon and Thane), Andhra Pradesh and Assam. It reportedly has a strong base in various universities in these States. SIMI is also believed to enjoy the support of a large section of the Muslim populace in cities such as Kanpur, Rampur, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Official sources are reported to have identified nine districts in Uttar Pradesh, where the SIMI is suspected of engaging in subversive activities-Lucknow, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra, Faizabad, Bahraich, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri and Azamgarh. The SIMI is also being utilised by various terrorist outfits because it has a well-knit network in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
In Kerala, SIMI operates under the cover of some 12 front organisations, at least two of which are based in the capital, Thiruvananthapuram, and a third in the port city of Kochi. Kondotty in the Malappuram District has also emerged as a hot-bed of SIMI activities. An official declaration submitted on June 1, 2006, by the Kerala Government before the tribunal examining the legality of the ban on SIMI, indicated that the outfit's cadres had lately' developed links with the LeT. Reports from various agencies, including the State Police Special Branch, further indicate that SIMI is operating under the cover of religious study centres, rural development and research centres. Some of these front organisations were spreading "extremist religious ideals" among sections of youth in Kerala by acting under the guise of "counselling and guidance centres working for behavioural change". SIMI is also reported to have established a women's wing in Kerala. Generous funds for such activities flow in from contacts in Kuwait and Pakistan.
In the western State of Maharashtra, areas such as Aurangabad, Malegaon, Jalgaon and Thane have remained strongholds of the SIMI. Intelligence agencies indicate that Madrassas (seminaries) in the Districts of Jalgaon, Nashik, Thane, Sholapur, Kolhapur, Gadchiroli, Nanded, Aurangabad, Malegaon and Pune have been brought under the scanner for SIMI activities. There are more than 3,000 Madrassas in the State, with about 200,000 students. As many as 500 seminaries are located in the State capital, Mumbai. Sources indicate that many of these seminaries are potential breeding grounds for SIMI's activities.
SIMI's activities have also continued in Assam and West Bengal, where the organisation has infiltrated Madrassas, Muslim clubs, libraries, and other cultural bodies for covert mobilisation of Islamist forces. In 2003, SIMI activists have operated from the platform of Islamic Siksha Shivirs' (Islamic Educational Camps) in Mograhat in the North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. A two-day workshop' organised in the District between August 31 and September 1 had, in fact, finalised the outfit's infiltration plans. Sources indicate that in August 2003, one Jamaluddin Chaudhory of the ICS had taken seven SIMI activists from Assam and West Bengal to residential Madrassas in Chittagong, Rangpur and Dhaka for higher Islamic studies'. Additionally, some hardcore SIMI activists from Malda and South 24 Parganas had crossed over to Bangladesh for higher studies in Islamic theology at a Saudi-funded private institution in Chittagong. In the 2004 general elections, SIMI had backed the newly floated Indian National League (INL)', which put up candidates in six constituencies of Jangipur, Murshidabad, Diamond Harbour, Basirhat, Jadavpur and Kolkata North-West. Senior SIMI leader Hasan Saidullah Ashrafi contested the Basirhat seat from the INL platform and finished seventh among eight candidates polling just 4,780 valid votes.
In the State of Madhya Pradesh, While SIMI activities were confined to Indore, Ujjain, Khandwa and Bhopal before the ban on it in 2001, they have spread to Burhanpur, Guna, Neemuch and Shajapur as well now, an unnamed police official was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times on August 16, 2006. Before the ban, 33 cases were registered against SIMI activists in various districts for spreading religious discord. Since then, however, 49 cases have been filed against the group. SIMI national general secretary Safdar Nagori, an Ujjain resident in his 40s, has been absconding since the ban. He has cases against him of spreading religious discord since 1997-98, Ajay Kumar Sharma, a Deputy Inspector General of Police, said. Since the ban, 180 SIMI activists have been arrested from across the State. And since April 2006, five SIMI members, including two women, have been taken into custody in Khandwa, four in Burhanpur and one each in Jabalpur and Ujjain.
Membership, Influence and Activities
Opposed to democracy, secularism and nationalism, SIMI has been advocating among its followers - some 400 ansars (full-time cadres) and the 20,000 ordinary members - the need to oppose "man-made" institutions and work for the Ummah.
Students up to the age of 30 years are eligible to be its members and after completing this age-limit they retire from the organization.
SIMI cadres consider Osama bin Laden as a true believer of Islam and regard him as an epitome of Islamic Hero. According to Safdar Nagori, a prominent SIMI leader, bin Laden is "not a terrorist" and neither is Jammu and Kashmir an "integral part of India." At its congregations, messages and recorded speeches have been relayed from the Palestinian Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yasin and Qazi Hussein Ahmed, chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan.
Official sources have indicated that the SIMI has established links with terrorist outfits and is also supporting extremism/militancy in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. The outfit is reported to have published objectionable posters and literature, which are intended to incite communal feelings and which question the territorial integrity of India.
Shaheen Force, the outfits wing for schoolchildren, seeks to "protect the children from present-day misguidance and vices" and keeps them "under the shade of Islamic culture". The outfit also has a wing that aims to channelise the talent of girls for the Islamist cause.
SIMI reportedly operates many special programmes for students of Arabic colleges and Islamic universities. Students receive training and other assistance in the study of languages and Islamic sciences. According to the SIMI, renaissance of the Ummah depends on Islamic scholars because the community can attain its glory only when it will be led and guided by sincere Ulema (scholars).
According to the SIMI, Israelis were responsible for the 9/11 attacks in New York. According to a press release issued by its secretary-general Safdar Nagori after 9/11, "there are strong reasons to believe that the recent attacks may be a conspiracy of the Zionist Israel, which is rapidly losing world support because of its inhuman and terrorist activities in Palestine."
Publications
SIMI publishes several magazines in various languages, including Vivekam in Malayalam, Sedhi Madal in Tamil, Rupantar in Bengali, Iqraa in Gujarati, Tahreek in Hindi, Al Harkah in Urdu and the Shaheen Times.
Incidents
2008
September 13: 30 persons were killed and 100 more injured in a series of five bomb blasts in the busy market places of national capital New Delhi, reports. The first explosion took place at Karol Bagh at 6.10 pm. The next explosion took place at 6.35 pm near the Metro Station at Barakhamba Road. Five minutes later, another explosion took place at the Central Park in Cannaught Place. Two more explosions took place in the M-block market of the Greater Kailash area at 6.30 pm and 6.40 pm. Initial investigations revealed that the improvised explosive devices were configured using ammonium nitrate. Four live bombs were recovered and diffused. While one bomb was found outside the Regal Cinema in Cannaught Place, two more bombs were diffused in the Central Park at Cannaught Place and at India Gate. In an e-mail to the media, the Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the explosions.
September 11: The Supreme Court further extended its interim order continuing the ban on SIMI till the 2nd week of October, 2008. This is the second time the apex court has extended the ban. The Union Government had filed a petition challenging the decision of a Special Tribunal to lift curbs imposed on the organisation. The Court has asked the Centre to place before it the synopsis of arguments and other documents in support of its stand to ban SIMI. The ruling came after the Government petitioned for more time for probe.
September 7: Two youths, identified as Mohammad Sohail and Azam, detained in Jodhpur were arrested by the SIT on charges of involvement in the May 13, 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case. During investigation, it was found that both had links with the banned SIMI and the main accused of the Jaipur serial blasts, including Sajid, Karimudeen and Taukir. They had allegedly arranged hotel rooms for the meetings of Sajid and his accomplices. The SIT sources claimed, "Sajid and his associates like Taukir, Karimudeen and others had visited Jodhpur many times and generated funds from there. It was found that Sohail and Azam had also gathered Zakat (charity) for them". With these two arrests, the total number of people arrested in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts went up to 14.
September 4: Four suspected cadres of the SIMI were arrested in connection with the July 26 Ahmedabad bomb blasts from Ahmedabad and Bhuj towns. An Ahmedabad police spokesman said that while Naved Kadri, Aiyyaz Sayed and Zaved Ahmed were arrested from Ahmedabad, Abbas Asmeja was arrested from Bhuj. The arrests took place following confessions made by the 10 main accused SIMI cadres. Aiyyaz was among those who had actually placed some of the bombs. Naved Kadri was present at the final planning meeting held in Juhapura. Zaved Ahmed had procured a gas cylinder from Kalupur area, which was used in the car bomb placed at the trauma centre in the civil hospital. Asmeja had secured a house, under a false name on behalf of the SIMI, under rehabilitation projects for the people hit by the 2001 Kutch earthquake. The house was sold recently to part-finance the blasts.
September 1: The Hyderabad Police arrested a person identified as Jaber from the Hyderabad city for suspected links with the SIMI. Hyderabad City Commissioner of Police B. Prasada Rao said, "Jaber has been arrested for his alleged links with the banned SIMI and sharing material with SIMI head Safdar Nagori." Jaber, son of Moulana Naseeruddin, is a Hyderabad resident. Naseeruddin is an accused in the assassination of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya and is now in Sabarmati jail in Gujarat.
August 26: Gujarat Police arrested Tanveer Pathan alias Sameer, a suspected SIMI member, from the Mira road area in Mumbai for his alleged involvement in the planting of bombs in Surat. Police sources said Pathan's name was revealed during the interrogation of Sajid Mansuri, an accused arrested in connection with the Ahmedabad serial blasts case. An unidentified police officer told, "Pathan was in touch with several SIMI activists in Pune and we passed on this information to the Gujarat Police. After Pathan's name emerged in the investigation, a team from the Gujarat Police arrived in Mumbai. With the help of the ATS, the Gujarat team caught Pathan."
August 25: The Supreme Court extended its stay of a tribunal order quashing the Union Governments February 7, 2008 notification, which banned the SIMI by six weeks. A bench, consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam, said, "The matter is important. We are ready to hear it. What we are concerned [with] are the documents and records relevant on the date of the ban notification."
August 23: The 'Indian Mujahideen', which had claimed responsibility for the recent serial explosions in Gujarat, sent a mail to TV channels with photographs of cars claimed to have been used in the attacks on two hospitals in Ahmedabad. Claiming that not a single Indian Mujahideen cadre involved in the blasts have been arrested so far the outfit threatened to widen the arc of its attacks. "The Indian Mujahideen on its full authority declares that by the Grace of Allah not even a single mujahid from our ranks who played even a minute role in the blasts, have been arrested to date. We are completely safe", the mail said.
August 21: The Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police arrested Feroz Mehboob Pathan (32), a suspected to SIMI member and part of the recently neutralised sleeper module of the outfit, from the Ghorpade Peth area of Pune. Two others were detained but not arrested.
August 20: The Union Government filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court, citing the involvement of SIMI cadres in the July 26 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. In its affidavit, the Government said investigations revealed that the accused in the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and Surat on July 26 were members of the SIMI. Annexing the depositions made by witnesses, the Government further said intelligence sources and secret surveillance by the police made it clear that the accused had nexus with international terrorist outfits. Further, these persons were persistently involved in more than one offence or other unlawful activities and the nature of activities indulged in by the outfit would show secessionist tendencies and the potential damage to the secular fabric of society.
Replying to the debate in the Uttar Pradesh State Legislative Assembly on terrorist activities and the role of the SIMI in the recent serial bomb blasts, the State Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Lalji Verma, said that since 2003 no activity of SIMI has been witnessed in Uttar Pradesh. He further said between 1998 and 2003, 65 cases had been registered against SIMI activists in the State. Rejecting the charge of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the UP police and its security and intelligence agencies were inefficient in containing the menace, Minister Verma said the security and intelligence units in 34 sensitive districts and on the States border have been upgraded.
Following leads given by arrested SIMI cadre Usman Agarbattiwala, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch recovered two pistols, a pipe bomb, balloons and 19 CDs and DVDs containing speeches of Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, laptops and hard drives from different places in the city. Usman Agarbattiwala was one of the ten SIMI members arrested for their alleged involvement in the Ahmedabad blasts.
August 19: A team of the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad arrested dentist Mohammed Salim Honali (31) from Bijapur in Karnataka. Honali used to work with the MA Rangoonwala College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre at the Azam Campus in Pune till May 2008 before he was laid off. ATS officials suspect that Honali not only had a significant role in the July 26, 2008 Ahmedabad blasts but was also brainwashing other youth to bring them into the radical fold. ATS officials said jihadi literature was recovered from all four suspects.
August 17: Three persons were arrested in Bharuch in Gujarat for renting a house to the SIMI activist Sajid Mansuri, who allegedly played a key role in the July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts. Mansuri had taken the house on rent from Saeed Hayat at Lukman society in Bharuch. Hayat had the power of attorney over the house that belonged to a London-based non-resident Indian. Two persons, Yusuf Patel and Maqbul Patel, had recommended the name of Sajid Mansuri to Saeed Hayat.
Police in Indore in Madhya Pradesh arrested a suspected SIMI activist in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad on July 26. The arrest followed a tip off provided by the Gujarat Police. Nine persons arrested by the Gujarat Police on August 16 for their alleged involvement in the blasts had disclosed that the explosives used in the blasts were sent from Madhya Pradesh.
Police sources in Gujarat claimed that SIMI leader Abul Bashar Qasmi who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on August 16 for his involvement in the serial blasts in Ahmedabad has "confessed" to his and his teams involvement in the terror attack. According to Abhay Chudasma, Joint Commissioner, Ahmedabad Crime Branch police, Qasmi also confirmed the role of Sajid Mansuri, another arrested senior SIMI member in the blasts. "We are questioning him on the details of other locals involved in the terror attack", Chudasma said. Police also suspected Qasmi and Sajids involvement in the Jaipur blasts. "We are still questioning Qasmi on the Jaipur link", Chudasma added. The police said Qasmi had taken over charge of the SIMI national network after the arrest of its leader Safdar Nagori and his brother Karimuddin Nagori in Indore in Madhya Pradesh in March. Safdar and Karimuddin had originally planned the execution of the Ahmedabad blasts and to carry out bombings in Surat too.
August 16: The Gujarat Police announced the arrest of SIMI leader Abul Bashar Qasmi, who allegedly was the mastermind behind the July 26 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts. Gujarat Director-General of Police P.C. Pandey said Qasmi was arrested from a village in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh (UP) by a joint team of the UP and Gujarat Police. The Gujarat police also said with this arrest they had unravelled the conspiracy that led to the bombings. Before Qasmis arrest, nine SIMI cadres were arrested from Ahmedabad and Vadodara. "We now have the entire details of how and where the plans for the Ahmedabad blasts were chalked out, who were the people involved and how the entire plan was operationalised," the DGP said. He also claimed that the same group was involved in planting bombs in Surat.
August 14: A SIMI activist was arrested in Bharuch in Gujarat in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad on July 26. The arrested SIMI cadre Mohammad Sajid Mansori is suspected to have been part of the conspiracy to carry out the nine blasts across the Gujarat capital.
August 8: The All India Minority Front said it had evidence that the SIMI had links with terror outfits in Pakistan. The Front national president S.M. Asif told reporters, "We have evidence of SIMI's links with Pakistani terror outfits and are ready to provide it to the central government provided we are assured security." "We have spoken to various Muslim people who have proof in this regard but they fear for their lives", he added. He further said, "We want SIMI should be banned and punished. The minorities in the country are opposed to all sorts of militancy. Even then Muslims suffer whenever there is any terror attack in the country."
August 6: The Supreme Court stayed the order by the Special Tribunal quashing the Union Government's February 7, 2008 notification declaring the SIMI an unlawful organisation. A Bench of the Supreme Court stayed the order on a mention made by Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam about the Union Government filing a special leave petition against the lifting of the ban. The Bench, consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice A.K. Mathur, ordered notice to the SIMI seeking its response in three weeks.
The MHA asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to send details of the criminal cases pending against the SIMI and its activists. Police headquarters in State capital Lucknow said that it has received a letter in this regard. The Office of the Director General of Police (DGP) has, consequently, started compiling the details of the recent cases against the SIMI.
August 5: The Anti-Terrorist Cell (ATC) attached to the Belgaum district Police Department in Karnataka arrested three suspected SIMI cadres. They were identified as Naveed Khaji and Ansar Nizami, both from Malmaruti area, and Sadiq Mulla of Azad Nagar. The arrest took place on the basis of information given by suspected SIMI cadres Tanveer Mulla and Iqbal Jakati, who were arrested recently. With the arrest of these three, the number of arrested suspected SIMI activists in the district rose to 11.
A specially-designated tribunal lifted the ban imposed by the Union Government on the activities of the SIMI. Justice Geeta Mittal of the Delhi High Court, who headed the tribunal, held that there was no new evidence submitted by the Government against the SIMI to justify the extension of the ban. A senior law officer said that the Government only came out with the evidence of the Malegaon blasts in Maharashtra in 2006 to show the complicity of the organisation in unlawful activities which was not sufficient to come out with the notification to ban it.
August 2: Immigration officials at the Mumbai International Airport detained a passenger in connection with a blast in the Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Hubli in Karnataka in May 2008. The passenger Iqbal Shaukat Ali is alleged to be a SIMI activist. A resident of Belgaum in Karnataka, Ali had fled to Sharjah soon after his name emerged as one of the major suspects in the blast. Subsequently, he was remanded to four days of police custody.
July 27: The Ahmedabad Joint Police Commissioner Asish Bhatia said an activist of the banned SIMI, Abdul Halim, who was wanted in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, was arrested during the combing operation in the city following the July 26 serial explosions in Ahmedabad (Gujarat).
July 15: Police arrested Mohammed Muqeemuddin Yaser, a former SIMI member, from his residence in the Saidabad area of Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh. Yaser, who is a MBA student, is also the eldest son of Maulana Naseeruddin, the founder president of Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Shaan-e-Islam (TTSI) and is presently lodged at the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad for his alleged role in the assassination of the former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya. Yasers younger brother Raziuddin Naser, a suspect in the twin blast cases in Hyderabad in August 2007, was arrested by the Karnataka Police in January 2008 for planning terrorist attacks in Karnataka and Goa. SIT sources said "Yaser was an active member of SIMI. Now, he along with some other former SIMI activists of the city has formed a group which downloads jihadi material and religious killing videos from the internet and distributes disks to extremist religious groups in the country."
June 8: Supporting continuation of the ban on the SIMI, the Karnataka Government in its affidavit submitted to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal contended that some of the SIMI members had been in contact with militant outfits. The Tribunal, set up by the Union Government to review the ban on SIMI concluded its two-day sitting on June 8 in Bangalore.
June 1: The Kerala Government represented its case in favour of continuing the proscription on the SIMI. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal appointed by the Union Government to review the ban on SIMI began a two-day sitting in capital Trivandrum. Representing the State Government, Inspector General of Police (Internal Security), N. C. Asthana, filed an affidavit before the tribunal stating that the SIMI was still carrying out unlawful activities in Kerala and hence the ban imposed on it shall be continued.
May 27: Police arrested a SIMI cadre, identified as Nasir Liyaqat Ali Patel, from Belgaum for allegedly spreading messages of hatred. Police also recovered the hard disc from his computer.
May 17: The special investigative team conducted raids across the State targeting activists of the SIMI. A SIMI cadre, Mohammad Shajid, was detained for questioning. Raids were conducted at Jaipur, Ajmer, Fatehpur, Godhpur, Tonk and Sikar on the basis of Intelligence inputs. A senior police officer said, "Raids were conducted, but it seems most of the activists have gone underground fearing arrests."
May 8: Three suspected SIMI activists were arrested from the New Housing Board colony area of Morena in Madhya Pradesh. Fake currency worth INR 80,000 and four mobile phones were recovered from them. Police sources said that one of the arrested Naajmia belongs to Kayamganj in Uttar Pradesh, while the other two, Pappu alias Sudhir Jadaun and Rajbir Gurjar, were from Morena.
April 23: The Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) said that despite the ban, the SIMI has been carrying out its activities clandestinely including holding of organizational meetings and circulation of literature. The Minister said that more than 70 male SIMI cadres have been arrested during the last one year as per reports from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka. No foreign national is among those arrested, he said. The Minister added that activities of the SIMI have been noticed in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
April 22: The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal, replying to questions in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) said that the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has links with terrorist groups, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). He said that the links have been revealed in investigations into a number of cases. The minister further said that 181 SIMI cadres have been arrested in various States since 2006 and arms, ammunition, incriminating literature and other items were recovered from them. Of them, 128 were arrested in Madhya Pradesh.
April 10: The Mumbai Police arrested two SIMI cadres from the Thane district. The duo, identified as Irshad Salim Khan and Israr Ahmed Abdul Hamid Tailor, are believed to be close to the arrested secretary-general of the outfit, Safdar Nagori. Khan is a civil engineer by profession and was the former president of the outfit while Israr Ahmed is a computer professional. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said, "Both are wanted in a case registered under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act here on July 28, 2006, in which train blasts accused Ehtesham Siddqui was earlier arrested."
The Madhya Pradesh Police arrested a SIMI cadre from the Rishala area of Indore city. The arrested cadre, identified as Hafiz Yusuf, has been an active worker of the outfit and played a significant role in collecting funds for the outfit, police sources said. He was working in a mobile shop in Indore.
April 7: Six SIMI cadres were arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police. While five SIMI cadres were arrested from Guna, a suspected SIMI cadre, identified as Naved Irfan was arrested in Indores Muslim- dominated Khajrana area for allegedly indulging in illegal activities and aiding anti-national elements, a senior police officer said.
The Jabalpur Police in Madhya Pradesh announced a reward of INR 5,000 to those who help trace two absconding SIMI activists Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Shakil.
April 5: Three SIMI activists were arrested from Narsinghgarh town in the Rajgarh district. The Rajgarh Superintendent of Police D. K. Arya said that the SIMI cadres, identified as Irfan, Faizal and Shakir, were arrested on charges of aiding anti-national elements and indulging in illegal activities. An unspecified quantity of objectionable material, video cassettes and CDs were recovered from the house where the arrests occurred.
April 4: Three persons, including a woman, were arrested for allegedly renting their premises to SIMI leaders in Indore and Khargone. A house in the Shyam Nagar locality of Indore was rented to SIMI's Andhra Pradesh unit chief Qamaruddin Nagori from where police arrested top 13 leaders of the outfit on March 27. The house rented to the SIMI by Gaffar Khan Bakerywale was registered in the name of his daughter-in-law Shahnaz Bi. Police arrested both Khan and Shahnaz for not providing information to the police about giving their house on rent.
Separately, in Khargone, another person, identified as Shahzad Hussein, was arrested for allegedly providing his farmhouse to the SIMI for running training camps.
April 2: Madhya Pradesh Police neutralised a SIMI training camp in Choral, a popular holiday spot, 35-kilometres from the State capital Bhopal. Police claimed that interrogation of the 13 arrested SIMI cadres led to the information on the existence of the camp. The Superintendent of Police Chanchal Shekhar told, "We were told the camp trained SIMI activists from Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka and a few other states. Each training camp would train around 20 SIMI members. We have information of five such camps in the past one-and-half years, which would mean about a hundred SIMI activists trained in Choral." He said that the trainees were made to climb the surrounding mountains and swim across the river daily. The police also found evidence of a firing range and exploded bits of petrol bombs.
Separately, Police recovered 122 super-explosive gelatine sticks, 100 detonators and switchboards buried underground in the Gawali village under Balwara police station area of Khargaon district.
April 1: The Assam Government told the Legislative Assembly that SIMI was active in Assam, but clarified that no member of the group had been arrested so far in the State. "While the Government had banned SIMI in 2001, there is information that the group is still active in Assam," Minister Rockybul Hussain told the Assembly.
March 31: A team of Madhya Pradesh Police arrested seven SIMI cadres from an unspecified location. The investigators interrogating the 13 SIMI leaders arrested in Indore on March 27 claimed that the banned outfit were planning to kill top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including the Leader of Opposition L. K. Advani, and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The investigators further claimed that the SIMI was even running training camps for militants to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.
March 27: 13 SIMI leaders, including the outfits General Secretary Safdar Nagori and his brother Kamruddin Nagori, were arrested following several raids in Indore by the Madhya Pradesh Police. Police described the arrested persons as active members of the outfit hailing from Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The arrested persons included SIMIs Karnataka unit chief Hafiz Hussain and Shivli, who is the mainstay of the groups operations in Kerala. Pistols, cartridges, nine mobile phones, INR 45,000 in cash, 15 masks, 22 pairs of surgical gloves and surgical instruments, SIMI literature were recovered from the arrested persons.
Police raided the house of SIMI leader Shiblyin a village in Kottayam district. Two computers were recovered from the houses of Shibli and his brother, Shaduli.
March 18: The Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) that the SIMI and its associates were planning to commit serial blasts and other serious offences in the country. "While there was no present input indicating any specific plans of SIMI to attack important installation, ...One arrested person disclosed that he along with his SIMI associates were planning to commit serial blasts and other serious offences," Jaiswal said.
March 11: A former Bihar unit chief of the SIMI, Arif Abrar, who had surrendered before a lower court in Nagpur in January 2008, was reportedly granted bail by the 10th Ad hoc Sessions Judge. Abrar who was lodged in the Nagpur central jail after police interrogation is expected to be released shortly. Defence lawyer A.M. Rizway stated that court found no incriminating evidence against him.
February 21: The Corps of Detectives arrested a software engineer for suspected links with the banned SIMI from Guruappanapalya under Mico Layout police station limits in Bangalore, capital of Karnataka. However, four of his alleged accomplices escaped during the police operation. Yahya Khan is a native of Kerala and was working in a leading multinational information technology company in the city and he was reportedly under watch by the Bangalore Police for the past few days. Police sources said that the arrest followed information given by Mohammad Asif, a final-year MBBS student, and another SIMI activist, who was arrested in Hubli recently.
February 12: The Corps of Detectives, which is investigating a terrorist module unearthed by the Davangere police in Karnataka, arrested an electrician from Dharwad for his alleged links with the banned SIMI. The arrested identified as Shakeel, a resident of Koppadakeri in the Dharwad district, had helped the SIMI activists to hold two meetings, one near the Mastansab Darga on Saudatti Road and the other at the Halligere forests on Haliyal Road in Hubli in November 2007. Shakeel reportedly participated in these meetings where some 25 SIMI activists from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala allegedly discussed plans to carry out acts of sabotage. These activists had held another meeting near Dandeli in May 2007.
February 12: Firoz Sanadi, the former deputy mayor of Belgaum city in Karnataka, and nine medical students were detained for alleged links with the SIMI and suspected militant Mohammed Asif who is in police custody.
Former Bihar unit chief of the SIMI, Dr Abrar Arif, who had surrendered before the Nagpur court recently, was sent to jail after he was produced before the lower court 2 by Sadar police.
February 10: The Islamic Students Association (ISA) is functioning transparently and it has no links with the banned SIMI, said ISA ad-hoc committee secretary E K Noufal in Kozhikode in Kerala.
February 7: The Union Government decided to continue the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for another two years. "The decision to re-impose the ban for two years has been taken in view of the fact that the group continues to indulge in unlawful activities," said the home ministry spokesperson Onkar Kedia.
February 6: Police arrested four activists of the Islamic Students Association (ISA), while trying to stick wall posters in the early hours at Edavamgal near Bekal in the Kasargod district of Kerala. The four activists of the newly-floated ISA, which seemed to be a front organisation of the banned SIMI, said the police.
January 31: Mohammad Abrar Arif Mohammad Kasim, a key SIMI leader, surrendered before a court in Nagpur after remaining at large for 18 months.
January 22: A report in The Hindu stated that the SIMI is believed to be operating under the cover of at least 12 organisations in Kerala. SIMI organisers periodically change the name of their front organisations to shake off police surveillance. Intelligence officials believe that SIMI activists in Kerala had developed links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba in 2006. They said that SIMI activists are operating under the cover of religious study centres, rural development and research centres and institutions for developing "personal effectiveness." Some of these organisations were spreading "extremist religious ideals" among a section of impressionable youth by acting as "counselling and guidance centres working for behavioural change". In the past 10 years, the police have registered 17 cases against suspected SIMI activists.
2007
October 23: Daily News & Analysis reported that the role of a splinter group of the SIMI is being examined by the internal security agencies for its alleged linkages with some rural non-government organisations (NGOs) in Maharashtra. An unidentified intelligence official said cadres belonging to the SIMI splinter, Tehereek Taifooz Sher-e-Islam, could have established linkages with a section of Muslim functionaries in these NGOs. Central intelligence agencies and the State Intelligence Department reportedly have been investigating the way these NGOs are managed.
September 6: The Supreme Court asked the SIMI to serve a fresh notice to the government on its plea for transferring the petition relating to the ban imposed on the organisation from the Delhi High Court to the apex court. SIMI had sought transfer of the petition filed by it in the High Court challenging the ban imposed in September 2003 for its alleged anti-national activities. Two other petitions filed by SIMI challenging the ban in September 2001 and February 2006 are pending in the apex court and hence it has sought transfer of the 2003 petition so that all the three petitions could be decided by the apex court.
July 5: Four persons, including two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) militants, were convicted by a court in New Delhi for possessing explosives and conspiring to wage war against the country. The other two persons, held guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Explosive Substances Act, are members of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Gulzar Ahmed Wani and Mohiuddin, the HM militants from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, and Feroz Rafi and Mumtaz, the SIMI activists from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested at New Delhi Railway Station on July 30, 2001. Police had then seized a huge haul of RDX, grenades, launchers, detonators and other explosives from them. The Hizb militants had reportedly come to Delhi to deliver the explosives to the SIMI activists. With their arrest, police had claimed to have solved six bomb blast cases, including the 2001 Sena Bhavan blast. However, the court on February 23 acquitted them in all these cases for lack of evidence.
Times Now reported that the SIMI has stepped up efforts to strengthen its base in the northeastern region along the India-Myanmar border. SIMI has been trying to tie up with Manipur-based outfits and especially the Peoples' United Liberation Front (PULF), an organization of indigenous Muslims of Manipur called Pangals. The report further indicated that SIMI's presence in the north-eastern region could pose a grave threat since several jihadi outfits with similar ideologies are already active on both sides of the border.
March 9: Police in Patna (Bihar) arrested Mohd Haseeb Raza, an activist of the SIMI, from his Phulwari residence. Police sources said that Raza was the state secretary of the outfit and was wanted in a case lodged in 2001 as a prime accused for planning subversive activities in the country.
February 15: The Supreme Court described the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as a "secessionist movement". A bench of Justice S. B. Sinha and Markandeya Katju observed while dealing with the Special Leave Petition filed by the SIMI challenging the ban imposed on it, "You are a secessionist movement. You have not stopped your activities." The Bench refused to agree with the submissions put forth by Kamini Jaiswal, counsel for the SIMI, that there was no evidence to link SIMI to any anti-national activity after 2003. In the petition, the SIMI had challenged the judgment of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Tribunal headed by Justice B. N. Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court, which confirmed the ban imposed on the organisation by the Union Government on February 8, 2006.
January 22: Police have beefed up security in the Cuttack city amidst intelligence reports indicating that the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadres are planning to orchestrate a terrorist attack during the India-West Indies one-day Cricket Match at the Barabati Stadium on January 24.
2006
December 21: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police filed the charge sheet in the September 8 Malegaon serial blasts case. The charge sheet stated that nine SIMI cadres had hatched and executed the conspiracy with the help of two Pakistani nationals in the textile town to "infuriate the entire Muslim community and trigger communal riots. 40 persons died and 312 were injured in four blasts.
December 4: The Uttar Pradesh Government said that it had not received any direction from the Union Government to proscribe the SIMI. In a written reply to a question in the State Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said that no instructions had been received from the Centre to ban SIMI. The State Government had recently successfully moved an application in a district court in Baharaich seeking withdrawal of cases against SIMI chief Shahid Badar Falah.
November 7: According to IANS, the SIMI is contemplating changing its name to evade attention it receives for its association with the terrorists. Quoting unidentified sources, the report said that SIMI may emerge under a new name such as Teharik-e-Millat or Awaz-e-Sura, with a view to expand its activities in Madhya Pradesh.
November 5: Six SIMI cadres are arrested in Indore. Police said that the six had met a detained senior SIMI operative, Imran Ansari, at a local restaurant while he was being escorted for a court hearing on November 1.
October 30: Maharashtra Police arrests Noorul Hooda Shamshul Hooda, a SIMI activist, in connection with the Malegaon serial bomb blasts of September 8, 2006.
October 8: A suspected SIMI cadre, Nurullah Samsudoha, is arrested from the Jaffar Nagar area of Malegaon town in Maharashtra.
September 6: The Bahraich District court in Uttar Pradesh grants permission to withdraw a treason case against the banned SIMI chief Shahid Badar Falah and 11 other members of the outfit.
August 23: Two suspects in the October 2005 Delhi serial bomb blasts are remanded to the custody of Mumbai Police till August 28 by a local court in Mumbai. Firoz Abdul Latif Ghaswala and Mohammed Ali Chippa, who were lodged in a jail in Delhi, were brought to Mumbai on August 23 and produced before a local court. Both, suspected to be linked to the SIMI, have allegedly visited Pakistan clandestinely to undergo training in arms and explosives handling at the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) camps.
Speaking in the State Legislative Assembly, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav ruled out the involvement of the Students Islamic Movement of India in recent terrorist attacks in the State.
August 22: Faizal Ataur Rehman Sheikh, allegedly Lashkar-e-Toibas Mumbai chief, and younger brother Muzamil, a software programmer, were booked in the Bandra blast case and remanded to police custody till September 4. In its remand plea, the Anti-Terrorist Squad said the brothers were active members of the proscribed SIMI and had been to Pakistan for military training.
August 18: SIMI activists, Waqar Baig Yusuf Baig and Jitaullah Rehman Mehmood Khan, are arrested from Kazipur in the textile township of Hinganghat in Wardha district of Maharashtra.
August 16: Five suspected SIMI activists, identified as Saduli, Abdul Aziz, Shammi, all from Kottayam district, and Anzar and Nizammudin, both from Aluva, arrested in Kerala.
August 15: Kerala Police arrested 18 suspected SIMI activists from Binamipuram in the Kochi district.
August 13: Two SIMI activists, Irfan Sayeed and Najib Bakali, are arrested by Mumbai Police personnel investigating the July 11 blasts.
August 8: Three SIMI cadres, Shakil Warsi, Shakir Ahmed Nasi and Mohammad Rehan Khan, are arrested in connection with the July 11 Mumbai serial blasts from Nagpur in Maharashtra.
August 7: The tribunal, constituted to examine the ban imposed on SIMI by the Union Government, holds it "legal and valid.
July 29: SIMI activist, Ehtashan Siddiqui, is arrested from his Mira Road residence on the outskirts of Mumbai for alleged links to the 7/11 blasts.
July 21: Bhopal Police arrests a SIMI activist, Imran, wanted in two cases, one registered at Surat in the State of Gujarat and the other at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. He is said to be an organising SIMI activities at the national level.
July 13: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav says in Lucknow that the SIMI is not active in the State and there is no evidence of its involvement in any unlawful activity during his regime. He further said that as far as its existence in Uttar Pradesh is concerned, it will be improper to initiate action without evidence.
July 6: The Supreme Court upheld the ban on the SIMI rejecting a petition that claimed that the organisation had not been found to engage in any terrorist activities.
June 2: According to the Government of Kerala, the SIMI is operating under the cover of at least 12 organisations in the State. At least two organizations linked to the SIMI are operating in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram.
April 25: Mohammad Aamir, the chief of SIMI's Uttar Pradesh State unit and the prime accused in the Kanpur riots of March 16, 2006, surrenders before a metropolitan magistrate in Kanpur.
April 21: The Union Government declares the SIMI an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It also constitutes a Tribunal, comprising Justice B.N. Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court, for adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring SIMI as an unlawful association.
2005
July 11: Police in Uttar Pradesh arrest six persons, including four of a family, from Faizabad in connection with the July 5-attack on the disputed complex in Ayodhya. The arrested family members were associated with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, according to official sources.
June 11: All eight accused in the Ghatkopar blast case, allegedly cadres of the SIMI, are acquitted by a POTA court in Mumbai due to lack of evidence.
March 8: Delhi Police arrests a SIMI member, Mohammad Iftikar Ehsan Malick, from Dehradun, the capital city of Uttaranchal.
2004
November 1: Maulana Nasiruddin, president of the Tahaffuz Shari'at-e Islam (Protection of Islamic Sharia) and allegedly linked to the SIMI, is arrested from Hyderabad in connection with his suspected links to the murder former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.
2003
November 11: A court in New Delhi acquits SIMI president Shahid Badar Falah in a case of sedition, which was filed against him in September 2001.
September 12: Five persons, including two SIMI activists, are arrested for the removal of railway sleeper clips from the tracks in Kumardubi-Barakar section in West Bengal.
July 21: POTA court in New Delhi sentences two SIMI activists to a five-year imprisonment under POTA for their membership of the proscribed organization and seven years imprisonment for sedition.
July 16: A POTA Court in Delhi convicts two SIMI activists for their active involvement with the banned outfit.
May 26: Mumbai Police arrest two suspected activists of the SIMI in the Ghatkopar bomb blast case and remand them to police custody till June 5.
May 14: Mumbai Police arrest three persons from Padgah village and foil a plan that envisaged a series of explosions in Mumbai and Kerala, which was allegedly hatched by the SIMI and Lashkar-e-Toiba. The accused were identified as Muzzamal Ansari, Mohammed Nadir Palob and Arif Hussain.
May 11: Mumbai Police detains SIMI activist Anwar Ali, a lecturer of the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, Maharashtra, for his suspected involvement in the March 13-Mulund train bomb explosion case.
May 3: Mumbai Police arrests six SIMI activists with links to the LeT and also seizes lethal chemicals and some arms and ammunition from their possession.
April 25: Mumbai Police arrests two suspected SIMI activists for their alleged involvement in the March 13-Mulund-bomb blast case from the Padgha village of Thane district.
April 21: Mumbai Police arrests Ghulam Akbar Khotal, an alleged SIMI activist from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, in connection with March 13 Mulund blast.
April 10: Saquib Nachan, a SIMI activist, surrenders before the Mumbai High Court. He is subsequently arrested by the Mumbai Police and booked under POTA for his alleged involvement in the Mulund blast. Saquib was arrested from Gujarat in October 1992 under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for his subversive activities and sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later commuted to 10 years by the Supreme Court. He was released from the Sabarmati jail in April 2001.
March 12: Noman Badar alias Falahi, one of the top leaders of SIMI, is brought on transit remand to Delhi from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. A case against him is pending in a Court in Delhi for his involvement in unlawful activities, including publishing objectionable using inflammatory language.
February 24: Police arrest two persons allegedly connected with the SIMI at Rabodi in Thane District of Maharashtra and seize incriminating documents from their possession.
January 29: Mumbai Police suspects the LeT and SIMI for the twin blasts near Vile Parle railway station in Mumbai on January 27 and January 28. United Arab Emirates (UAE) based LeT terrorist Abu Hamza is suspected to be the masterminded behind the first explosion, in which a women was killed and 25 more injured.
January 27: Uttar Pradesh Police arrests three SIMI activists from Lucknow and recover certain incriminating documents from them.
January 26: Dubai authorities deport Mohammed Altaf, an activist of the SIMI and main accused in the December 2, 2002, bomb blast at Ghatkopar.
January 9: Madhya Pradesh Police arrests Bhopal district unit former president of the SIMI Khalid Naeem. He was later released on bail.
January 3: Mumbai Police invokes POTA against four SIMI activists Abdul Mattin, Sayed Khwaja, Muzzamil Ahmed and Zahir Shaikhfor allegedly setting off a blast inside a bus in Ghatkopar on December 2, 2002, in which three persons were killed.
2002
December 21: A Delhi court discharges SIMI leader Mohammed Javed Iqbal in a sedition and unlawful activities case and also drops sedition charges against its president Shahid Badar and three others. While discharging Iqbal, the court granted bail to Badar and four others in the case. The court also dropped sedition charge against Badar in another case and granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 5,000 and one surety.
October 7: Supreme Court issues notices to Union Government and eight States on a petition filed by the SIMI challenging the Union Home Ministry's order declaring the organization as unlawful and the subsequent order of a Tribunal upholding the same. States to which notices were issued are: Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
May 27: Two SIMI activists are arrested in Delhi.
May 5: Uttar Pradesh unit SIMI chief Noman Badar is arrested in Lucknow.
March 18: SIMI activist Hasib Raja is arrested in Kolkata, West Bengal, and half a kilogram of RDX is seized from him. He was allegedly planning to blow up the Howrah Bridge.
January 28: Police arrest eight SIMI activists from Vadodara in Gujarat.
2001
December 28: Police in Surat, Gujarat, arrest 123 persons for their alleged links with SIMI and also recover certain incriminating documents from their possession.
October 24: Maharashtra Police files charge sheet in a Jalgaon Court against 11 SIMI activists arrested for suspected terrorist activities.
October 8: Police arrest the Tamil Nadu State vice-president of SIMI, Abdul Qudoos, from Madurai.
October 5: Maharashtra Police arrest three SIMI activists from Ahmednagar.
October 1: Police arrest nine SIMI activists in Madhya Pradesh and one in Delhi.
September 29: After the ban on SIMI, the Police arrest another 122 of its cadres across the country.
September 28: Delhi Police seals SIMI headquarters at Zakir Nagar and arrests four senior members of the organisation, including its national president Dr Shahid Badr Falah. Shahid Badr was subsequently charged with sedition and inciting communal disharmony in Uttar Pradesh.
September 27: Union Government imposes a ban on the SIMI under section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Following the ban, 241 SIMI activists were arrested across the country and authorities seal many of its regional offices.
September 21: Uttar Pradesh Police arrests three SIMI activists in Bahraich for alleged anti-India activities. Five more SIMI cadres were arrested in the same town a day earlier.
August 8: The Uttar Pradesh Police says SIMI activists arrested in Kanpur earlier have revealed that the ISI had asked one of its agents to supply explosive material for subversive activities in northern India.
August 6: Police in Kanpur register cases against 12 SIMI activists on charges of waging war and sedition.
May 9: Police arrest 13 SIMI activists, including zonal President Irshad Khan, in Kurla and Vikhroli in Maharashtra for allegedly possessing weapons and several incriminating documents.
April 10: Ilyas Gausn, main accused in the Pune communal violence, surrenders before a judicial magistrate in the city.
March 16: Six persons, including an Additional District Magistrate, are killed in a clash between SIMI activists and police in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
March 11: Police arrest Sajid Sundke, city unit chief of SIMI, and four of his associates in Pune for their suspected involvement in the communal riots in Ganj Peth and Ghorpade Peth areas of the city.
2000
March 12: Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Chhagan Bhujbal, discloses in the State Legislative Assembly that Pakistan-based underworld don Chhota Shakeel, in league with the SIMI, is inciting communal riots in some parts of the State.
August 15: Uttar Pradesh Police arrest Mohammad Aquil, a former student of Aligarh Muslim University and an active SIMI member, in connection with a bomb blast in the Sabarmati Express train near Faizabad.
