Intelligence agencies welcomed the Delhi high court’s decision to extend the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India.
An intelligence officer said that SIMI had been showing signs of revival in the past year. The first major attack the SIMI carried out was with the Indian Mujahideen at Bodh Gaya in Bihar. The SIMI sought to take up the cause of the Rohingya Muslims with this attack.
The second attack was in Patna at a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the police suspected the Indian Mujahideen of carrying out the blast, its operative Tehsin Akthar told the police that the IM had only provided logistical support to the SIMI.
The Khandwa jailbreak was yet another sign of SIMI’s emergence, the officer said. Ten members of the SIMI escaped from jail but 5 were rearrested. They had planned to break into the Sabarmati jail and release their supreme leader Safdar Nagori.
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