SIMI activist’s house raided

The Kerala Police has held extensive raids on the residence of Peadiackal Abdul Shibli, considered as the leader of the hardcore wing of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the country. Shibli and 12 SIMI activists were arrested in Indore following a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau. Shibli, a computer engineer by profession, was picked up by the police in Indore on Thursday along with the other activists.

The police raids on Shibli’s residence in Erattupetta yielded some valuable documents, a laptop and certain other materials. Police officers, however, refused to divulge the details of the contents recovered from his place.

Shibli was working with a multinational company. Of late, he had floated his own computer firm Fatah Consultancy and the Intelligence men were on his trail ever since the arrest of hardcore Islamic fundamentalists from Hubli.

He is also considered to be the mastermind behind the Mumbai train blasts in which more than 200 persons lost their lives.

It may be recalled that another Keralite, Yahya Kahn alias Kammukutty, was arrested from Bangalore. He too was considered a hardcore SIMI operative with base in Bangalore. Yahya was a product of the prestigious National Institute of Technology in Mukkom, Kozhikode.

There are reports that the SIMI leadership had recently conducted some armed training programmes in the dense forests of the State. It is suspected that the training camp was conducted for highly qualified professionals from various backgrounds and Yahya and Shibli were considered as the masterminds behind the recruitment drives.

National Security Adviser MK Narayanan had warned the State Government several times on the presence of hardcore Islamic groups in the State. The State police is also trying to ascertain the links between the arrested SIMI activists and the new student organisation ISA (Islamic Student Association). The organisation was allegedly floated by erstwhile SIMI activists who felt that the parent organisation and other Islamic groups active in the State were not actually pursuing pure jihadi ideologies.

The State police also continued raids at several SIMI related centres in Aluva, Angamaly, Thiruvananthapuram, Thalassery and Kasaragod.

Intelligence officials have warned the State police that the SIMI is active in the State under the guise of several human rights organisations and that it has been planning to enter the mainstream of the State through issues like drinking water shortage, HMT land deal and other land-related issues.

A senior official with the State police said, “We are engaged in a step-by-step process of getting more information on the activities of this organisation and the penetration level it has attained in the State. The rest could be ascertained only after more investigation.”

However, the Central agencies have already cracked the case and detailed reports of the planning of these terror-struck youth were made out by the agencies before the arrest.

Intelligence sources said that there were clear evidences of the links these individuals and the new incarnation of the SIMI had with some foreign organisations active in the neighbouring countries.