M'stra police team questions 11 SIMI activists

Agartala, Jul 18: A two-member Maharastra police team arrived here to question 11 suspected Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists, who were arrested by Tripura police in south Tripura recently.

The officers, Sachin Rane and R Tonti, are members of anti-terrorist cell of Maharastra police.

Meanwhile, the Tripura Police were maintaining silence over the whole issue.

'' We can not reveal anything at this juncture. It may hamper our investigation,'' said a senior official of the Special Branch.

He said the eleven detainees might be the members of '' Islamic Fundamentalists''. ''They had only revealed that they arrived here following specific instructions from Tablgh-e-Jamat, which is a religious organisation,'' said the officer.

Another source of Tripura police told UNI that the group initially consisted of twelve members. ''But one had left for Maharastra a day before the group was detained. We are trying to establish his wherebouts,'' said the official.

Meanwhile, the Tripura State Jamiat Ulema (Hind), TSJU, reiterated that the detained 19 muslim youths were innocent.

TSJU president Mufti Tayebur Rahaman told a news conference that reports published/broadcast in some local newpapers/electronic media were 'baseless'. '' They (detained youths) are not connected to any anti-national and illegal activity. They have come here from Maharastra and Gujarat to spread Islam. They are not at all involved with Mumbai bomb explosion,'' said Mr Rahaman.

''The TSJU strongly condemns the recent bomb blasts in Mumbai where hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives. We demand the Centre as well as the Maharastra Government to bring the culprits to book,'' said Mr Rahaman.

UNI

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