6 policemen testify against SIMI in tribunal

Six policemen deposed in the special Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Tribunal on Friday and testified against the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Six policemen deposed in the special Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Tribunal on Friday and testified against the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

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The organisation, which was formed in April 1977, was banned by the Indian government in 2002 for its alleged involvement in terror acts.

On August 5, 2008, the special tribunal had lifted the ban on SIMI. But the next day the Supreme Court reinstated the ban.

In the tribunal, officers Sunil Mane, Uday Singh Rathod, Rehmatullah Sayed, Atul Sabnis, Vinod Damodar Pratap and Milind Chitle, who had investigated various terror-related cases in the state, justified the need for the extension of ban by producing evidence against SIMI members in cases investigated by them.

The tribunal asked the police officers to produce the original copies of the seized SIMI literature recovered during raids.

The officers told the tribunal, headed by Justice Sanjay Khanna of the Delhi High Court, that SIMI members were involved in several terror cases, including the Malegaon 2006 blasts and the 2006 serial train blasts cases.

“There is no evidence that connects the accused with the SIMI organisation except for their confessional statements,” lawyer Mobin Akhtar, who represents SIMI, told Hindustan Times. He added that the retraction application of the statements is pending in the court.

The hearing will continue on Saturday.

SIMI activists have also been accused of having carried out the 2003 blasts in Mumbai, in which more than 50 people died. SIMI leader Saqib Nachan allegedly planned the blasts.

A government crackdown on SIMI had followed the ban and its senior leadership arrested. While top SIMI leaders, including Safdar Nagori, are under arrest, Tauqeer is still at large.