Bhubaneswar: Four operatives of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who were allegedly involved in terror activities in several states, and the mother of one of the operatives, were arrested in Rourkela in a joint operation by Orissa Police, Telangana Police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths.
In a press conference held at the Commissionerate Police’s offices here, Director General of Police KB Singh identified the operatives as Sheik Mehboob, Amjad Khan, Zakir Hussain and Mohammed Sadiq. Mehboob’s mother Najma Bibi (60) was also arrested.
“Mehboob, Amjad and Zakir along with four other associates had escaped from the Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh on the night of September 30 2013 by scaling its compound wall. While one prisoner named Abid Mirza Beg was nabbed the next day, the group’s leader Abu Faisal was caught in December. Two members of the group, named Mohammad Ejazuddin and Mohammad Aslam, who were reportedly involved in a shootout at a bus station in Suryapet of Nalgonda district in TelanganaApril 3, 2014 in which two policemen lost their lives, were shot dead April 5 in the same district by security forces. However, Mehboob, Amjad, Zakir continued to evade police,” Singh said.
The five were caught following an exchange of fire during an operation launched by the tactical unit of the state’s Special Operations Group (SOG) and Telangana Police. Security forces seized five firearms, including three revolvers, and some ammunition from them, Singh said.
“The four are activists of SIMI and were involved in terror activities in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. They were taking shelter in Rourkela using a false identity,” Singh said.
They had been staying in Rourkela for the past four-five months to collect money through dacoity for carrying out their operations. All the four hailed from Madhya Pradesh and were wanted by the National Investigation Agency, Singh said.
The four were carrying fake identity proofs and their plan was to rob a bank in Chhattisgarh, Singh said. They had earlier robbed Rs 48 lakh from a bank in Telangana. The NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh on each on their heads, another police official said.
The arrested operatives were being interrogated by the police at a secret location, sources said. Soon after the arrests, Singh met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat and the home secretary to apprise them of the situation.
“We had intelligence inputs that the operatives were staying at a rented accommodation in Nala Road, Rourkela for the last four to five months. Orissa Police’s special tactical unit, Telangana police and IB officials on the night of February 16 cordoned off the area and nabbed five persons, including Najma, who has been with the group since September 2014 when Mehboob suffered burns while allegedly experimenting with explosives at a house in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh,” he added.
The three-hour-long operation started late midnight at Nala Road of Rourkela.
“The lanes are very narrow in Nala Road area. We tactically entered the house. Four members surrendered, but one of them opened fire. Though we managed to nab them, we were apprehensive that they might blow themselves up in a bid to avoid arrest,” special DG of state intelligence Arun Sarangi said.
“The fugitives were on the run since 2013 and they had stayed in 14 states across the country. The Rourkela house was one of the several ‘safe-houses’ in the country. We arrested them after tracking their activities for a long period,” he added.
Orissa Crime Branch’s special task force (STF) has taken over the probe into the matter and a team has left for Rourkela to seek remand of the SIMI operatives.
Police said one of the members linked with SIMI was able to obtain a fake PAN card in the name of Gopal Singh with the help of a Rourkela-based insurance agent identified as Naveen Sahoo. “Mehboob and his associates had promised Sahoo they would buy several insurance policies from him if he helps them in procuring fake PAN cards. Only one person was able to obtain a fake PAN card and we have detained Sahoo,” police said. Sources said NIA officials will be arriving in the state to probe the matter. PNN
