Ban on SIMI stopped it from operating openly in state: Officer tells tribunal

The tribunal, headed by Delhi High Court judge Mukta Gupta, has been holding hearings at the Savitribai Phule Pune University premises since Friday. The tribunal was constituted to decide whether there was sufficient cause for declaring SIMI an unlawful association.

Justifying the ban on SIMI, Tamboli told the tribunal that the outfit may operate under different names, but because of the ban, the organisation has not been able to carry out its activities openly in Maharashtra.

Tamboli also told the tribunal that 21 alleged operatives of SIMI, named in connection with various crimes in the state, were absconding. In his affidavit filed before the tribunal, Tamboli mentioned details of eight cases with SIMI links registered in different parts of the state.

He also mentioned Khalid Ahmed, an alleged SIMI operative arrested in 2008. Later, Ahmed escaped from a Bhopal prison and was killed in a police encounter. Searches at his residence had led to the recovery of material linked to SIMI, said the SID officer.

During the hearing, Assistant Commissioner of Police Bhanupratap Barge submitted an affidavit before the tribunal regarding the investigation into a blast that took place near Faraskhana – Vishrambag police station in Pune on July 16, 2014. The investigation and CCTV footage had revealed the involvement of five alleged SIMI operatives in the blast, said Barge. Three of the accused had died in an encounter with police in Madhya Pradesh and two others had died in Telangana.

Founded in 1977, SIMI was banned by the Centre in 2001 over its alleged links with terror acts and the ban was subsequently extended multiple times.

The most recent ban, imposed in 2014 and valid for five years, came to end on January 31 this year. The Centre then issued a notification extending the ban on SIMI for five years starting February 1, under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act.

The tribunal’s next set of hearings will take place in Aurangabad from May 16.