Five SIMI activists held

SIMI activists Five Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists of whom two are wanted in the Ahmedabad blast case of July 2008, were arrested hereby a joint team from Madhya Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Indore Police on Tuesday night.

Ahmedabad Joint Commissioner of Police Ashish Bhatia, who is in charge of the Ahmedabad blasts case, told HT that two of those arrested, Mohammad Shafiq and Mohammad Yunus, had attended a training camp in Halol city in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat.

The camp was held just before the Ahmedabad blasts, and the two had been absconding ever since. He said a team from Ahmedabad crime branch would be landing in Indore soon to take them to Gujarat.

The Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 blasts that hit the Gujarat capital within a span of 70 minutes, killing 56 and inuring more than 200 people.

MP ATS chief Pawan Shrivastava and Indore Inspector General of Police Sanjay Rana said that of those arrested, two were from Ujjain and three were from Khandwa.