Friday, July 14 2006 18:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Siliguri (WB): Police is keeping a strict vigil on activists of the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who have a strong base along Bangladesh border in Malda district, after the organisation came under scanner following the July 11 blasts in Mumbai.

Plainclothes policemen were deployed in areas where SIMI members were active and intelligence network was geared sources over phone.

Besides, the police was keeping contact with the BSF to ensure that none could cross the border from either side.

Mandal said he was yet to receive any instruction from the authorities to crackdown on SIMI activists.

State Home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy yesterday said in Kolkata that the state government ordered a crackdown on the banned organisation which had no office over ground.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, however, said there was no significant presence of SIMI activists in West Bengal.

"Some of them may have joined the Laskar-e-Taiba or other terrorist organisations," he said in Kolkata yesterday.

Stating that Malda police was ready for any operation any time, the police chief said all police stations of the district were alerted, hotels and lodges and passengers travelling by train or buses were being checked.

He said that the state police, railway police, BSF and other security forces and intelligence agencies were working together to ensure safety, security and normal life in the bordering district.