By IANS,
Lucknow : The former Uttar Pradesh head of the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has revealed vital clues about the members and activities of the banned network during interrogation, officials of the state police’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) said Tuesday.
Hammam Ahmed Siddiqui, who headed the Uttar Pradesh operations of SIMI before it was outlawed in 2001, was arrested June 23 by the ATS in Gorakhpur and was taken on a day’s police remand for interrogation Sunday.
“We have got the names of some members and financers of SIMI who are active in Gujarat, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh. Siddiqui was a practicing lawyer in Delhi and was also arranging legal services for SIMI leaders and activists who were arrested recently from Indore in Madhya Pradesh”, an ATS official said on condition of anonymity.
Managing the funds of SIMI and sending them to distant states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam were some of the other main activities of Siddiqui, he added.
Siddiqui also revealed that the national chief of SIMI, Shahid Badr, was playing an important role in pooling finances.
“Siddiqui was also in constant touch with Safdar Nagori, the general secretary of SIMI, who was arrested in Indore, along with about a dozen other bigwigs of SIMI two months ago,” Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Brijlal told IANS.
Siddiqui also disclosed the names of a couple of lawyers of the Patiala House court in New Delhi who were assisting him in providing legal services to militants.
Based on Siddiqui’s revelations, police teams have fanned out to various parts of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states, officials said.