Shibly—Coordinator with external militant outfits

KOZHIKODE: Peediackal Abdul Shibly, a computer engineer hailing from Eerattupetta in Kottayam district, is one of the most prominent SIMI operatives in South India, who broke away with the moderates in the organisation, declaring that SIMI should continue to tread the path of jihad in India.

A militant having close links with the Leshkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Harkath-ul-Jehad Islami (HUJI), Shibly has been coordinating with external militant outfits to organise terror strikes in various parts of India.

It was reported that Shibly, who worked in Bangalore, vociferously opposed the move from some nonjehadi SIMI leaders to come overground. Shibly is reported to have admitted the role of SIMI in the Mumbai blasts in 2006 at the conference of SIMI leaders held at Aluva in 2006.

He wanted the SIMI to tread the path of jihad at any cost. Shibly’s links with the blasts came to light after the arrest of Siddiqui, the SIMI leader from Maharashtra. Siddiqui mentioned the name of Shibly as one of the persons who helped to organise the blasts. Shibly escaped when the police swooped down in Bangalore.

Shibly is learnt to have set up a firm called Fatah Business Solutions in Bangalore. He was instrumental in recruiting IT professionals, including from Kerala, to the banned organisation. He was operating under the cover of an organisation called Sarani which basically trains Muslim youths on Islamic way of life.

It remains to be seen whether Shibly has had any role in the formation of Islamic Students Association (ISA), which is the reincarnation of SIMI in Kerala. ISA was formed after a group in the SIMI felt that the other Islamic organisations are not `Islamic enough’ in their assessment. ISA was formed when the Campus Front, the student wing of the NDF, was trying to get footholds on many campuses in the state.

Certain cultural and voluntary organisations in Kerala have been under the surveillance of the intelligence agencies after SIMI workers are suspected to be using these forums for covert operations.

These include a religious study centre in Kondotty in Malappuram and a publishing house in Ernakulam.

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