Kondotty epic centre of Jihadi activities of Kerala – NIA

 IM THRIVES IN 9 UP DISTRICTS, BUT AIMS TO HIT ALL INDIA: NIA
http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/im-thrives-in-9-up-districts–but-aims-to-hit-all-india-nia.html

An NIA dossier on Indian Mujahideen says the outfit has been thriving and engaging in subversive activities in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra, Faizabad, Bahraich, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri and Azamgarh.
The outfit also has a strong presence in Azamgarh that has been a breeding ground for SIMI and IM activities over the years, says the 276-page dossier. The report adds that the outfit also has “good” presence in Rampur, Moradabad and Saharanpur.
For Gujarat, the document says, “The State has been more a target for SIMI-IM than a hub for the groups, with most men blamed for the 2008 blasts belonging to other States.”

The report also says there are inputs that IM is likely to target DRDO offices, defence establishments like Mazgaon dock, naval dockyard, ONGC plant at Uran, economic and aviation sectors among others.

According to the report, the banned Students Islamic Movement of India and its offshoot Indian Mujahideen has a national presence with strong bases in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra (Aurangabad, Malegaon, Pune, Jalgaon and Thane), Andhra Pradesh and Assam.

Kerala also has major presence of SIMI with its cadres having links with Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. In the State, SIMI operated under the cover of some 12 front organisations. Kondotty in Malappuram district has emerged as a hotbed of SIMI activities. Prominent SIMI operators from the State are CAM Basheer, an aeronautical engineer and a former national president of the outfit. He has been operating from Saudi Arabia and funding SIMI and IM operations.

North Bihar districts of Darbhanga, Samastipur, Araria and Madhubani, which were earlier used by terrorist outfit as transit routes for escaping into Nepal, have now become the new recruiting centres of IM.

The mushrooming of madrasas propagating the Ahle Hadis and Deobandi brands of puritan Islam in these districts have created a fertile ground for the growth of fundamentalism and jehadi thinking, the report said.

Among key missing operatives from Maharashtra are Abdus Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, Amin alias Raja, Ayub Shaikh, Abdul Shakoor Khan, alias Irfan, and Abu Rashid.

Since the ban on SIMI in 2001, over 180 SIMI activists have been arrested from Madhya Pradesh. Before the ban, SIMI activities were confined to Indore, Ujjain, Khandwa and Bhopal but have now spread to Burhanpur, Guna, Neemuch and Shajapur.
“SIMI has been a vital part of LeT’s plans for destabilisation of India. Groups of SIMI sympathisers exist in several places in the Gulf States. Jamayyatul Ansar, an organisation of SIMI activists comprising expatriate Indian Muslims, is reportedly active in Saudi Arabia and is suspected of channelling funds to SIMI,” says the report.
Several Islamist fundamentalist organisations in India like Kerala-based National Democratic Front and Islamic Youth Centre and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kzhagam (TMMK) in Tamil Nadu are allegedly controlled by former SIMI cadres, the report further said.

On funding of SIMI and IM, the report said the outfit is securing “generous” financial assistance from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Riyadh, and also from the International Islamic Federation of Students Organisations (IIFSO) in Kuwait. The Chicago-based Consultative Committee of Indian Muslims is also reported to have supported SIMI morally and financially. Zakat (donation) by devotees and the money collected from the sale of goatskin offered at mosques during celebration of Bakr-Eid are also major sources of funding for the banned outfit.

SIMI has floated a number of front organisations like Kutubul Islamia (Karnataka), Juhapura Youth Federation (Gujarat) and Students Welfare Trust (Delhi) to collect funds and carry out other activities like taking care of the cadres and circulating seditious literature.

SIMI is also using Tahrik Tahaffuz-e-Ehyaa-e-Ummat and Tehrik-Talaba-e-Arabia as cover organisations.

The report also lists the possible locations of key SIMI-IM fugitives — including Riyaz Bhatkal (Pakistan), Amir Reza Khan (Pakistan), Iqbal Bhatkal (Sharjah), Mohsin Chaudhary alias Ali (Pakistan), Maksood (Pakistan), Dr Shahnawaj (Pakistan/Sharjah, Abu Rashid (Sharjah), Khalis (Sharjah) and Bada Sajid (Sharjah).

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