ISIS, SIMI, IM Under One Umbrella of Terror? Exclusive on Pune Case from Agencies' Sources

Not just the Islamic State (IS or ISIS), two other terror outfits — Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Indian Mujahideen (IM) – too, were involved in the recent Pune case, indicating regrouping under one umbrella, according to sources from security agencies.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested four accused – one from Mumbai, one from Pune and two from Thane – on July 3. The Pune Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on July 18 arrested two, who were working for the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) offshoot SUFA and were wanted in an NIA case, from Kothrud.

According to sources, direct links are emerging between cases from Hazaribagh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. “They all lead to Saqib Nachan, who served a 10-year sentence for his role in the 2002-03 triple blasts in Mumbai," they said.

Arrested accused Shahanawaaz Alam is the key player in the terror plan so far, they added. “All old terror outfits that were almost dead in terms of activities have been recycled again. They have done everything cleverly and saved themselves from the agencies. It is good that they were caught, otherwise their plans were deadly," they said.

KEY REVELATIONS FROM SECURITY AGENCY SOURCES

1. They are all hardcore, higher grade radicals trained in IT, cyber, explosives and improvised explosive devices (IED).
2. There were ideological differences between the merged terror outfits, but they decided to start work again. The role of SIMI and IM is clearly visible.
3. They have a foreign handler from Iraq or Syria.
4. In the Pune case, everyone got funding at different times, which is different from the ISIS style. The operatives are getting regular foreign funding.

CASE FILES

Last year’s Mangaluru auto blast and the recovery of explosives from Chittorgarh clearly show the presence of foreign handlers, say sources. The accused from these two cases, along with the 2016 Ratlam ISIS case, and old SIMI radicals are linked to the umbrella, they said.

“A lot of recycled radicals are also in the race. Even those the agencies left after questioning or were not found to be involved have joined the group. Many of the operatives are those who are out on bail in terror cases. They are all jihadis and are trying to attempt something major," he said.