Dhar: Former SIMI chief Safdar Nagori and 12 other key leaders of the banned outfit, who were arrested from Indore and this neighbouring district during a major crackdown against it, were remanded in police custody till April 11 by a court here today.

Nagori, who has been absconding since the outfit was banned in 2001, Shibly Peedical Abdul, wanted in connection with the Mumbai train serial blasts of July 2006 and setting up terror groups in Bangalore, and 11 other members of the group, were brought to the court by the sleuths of Special Task Force (STF).

According to the Madhya Pradesh Police, a large cache of weapons and inflammable SIMI literature were seized from them during the raids in Indore and Dhar districts of the state.

They have been charged by the Police with various sections of the Indian Penal Code including section 122 (collecting arms with intention of waring a war against the Indian Government) and section 153A (promoting enmity between classes) and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.

Tight security arrangements were made as they were produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) S S Thakur, who passed the remand order.

Among others nabbed during the two-day raids by the Police that began on Wednesday, were Safdar Nagori's brother Kamruddin Nagori, chief of the outfit s operations in Andhra Pradesh, and Hafiz of Karnataka.

Workers of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha staged a protest against the banned outfit outside the court premises where large number of people were gathered.
Source : PTI