Mumbai serial blasts: Witch-hunt for usual suspects

Though police claim that all possible angles in the July 13 blasts are being looked into, sources reveal that the current line of investigation is focusing on current or former members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Police allege that SIMI has close links with the Indian Mujahideen (IM).  

The police have therefore begun combing areas like Sakinaka, Kurla, Bhiwandi, Mumbra and Shivaji Nagar, which in the past have seen detention of “SIMI members” — especially after the 2003 and 2006 blasts.

Police and counter-terror experts claim that many of the IM activists are former members of SIMI, an outfit banned by the Indian government. Acting on the theory that the July 13 serial blasts have the footprint of earlier blasts allegedly carried out by the Indian Mujahideen, the probe is looking at the involvement of alleged IM operatives.

As investigators struggled for a breakthrough three days after the terror attack, police teams also fanned out to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan, to interrogate SIMI or IM members held in jails there. Police sources say they are going through lists of even former members and “clandestine” current supporters.

With the pressure from the administration and the media building up, the police, desperate for a break through, are thoroughly interrogating every so-called SIMI activist to get some kind of a lead.

“Many young activists have gone into hiding after the blast. Only the older ones are available for questioning. We are trying to trace those who’ve gone underground or missing,” said a state intelligence source, who adds that intelligence officials and cops are moving around in “known SIMI strongholds,” visiting prayer gatherings and eavesdropping on street-side conversations.

However, many, like Mohammed Rehan, a former SIMI member from Kurla, are already calling it a witch-hunt. “Every time there is a blast, it has become routine for the police to pick us up for questioning. We are fed up of this.” Says another former SIMI member, Unaiz Sheikh, “The blast was an inhuman act. Like everyone, even we want the culprits to be brought to book.”

Interestingly, several ex-SIMI members have themselves started approaching the police for being questioned over the blast. Sources in the police also confirm that former SIMI members have on their own been approaching them to avoid bringing suspicion upon themselves.