Five SIMI activists sent into judicial custody

Kochi, Aug 16 (UNI) A local court here today sent five suspected activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in judicial custody.

The five were among the 19 suspects who were taken into custody yesterday, including one today, for interrogation.

After officially recording the arrest of five suspects -- Saduli (24), Abdul Aziz (27), Shammi (20), all from Kottayam district and Anzar (25) and Nizamuddin (24), both from Aluva -- the police today produced them before Chief Judicial Magistrate Sujetha who sent them to 14-days judicial custody.

Meanwhile, the others are still ''under observation'', the police said.

Today one Zakir Azim (27), an engineer working as a lecturer in Aluva, was taken into custody for interrogation.

Yesterday, acting on a tip-off that SIMI activists were conducting a meeting in an auditorium at Binamipuram, police raided the place and took into custody 18 suspected activists.

They also seized some literature detailing SIMI's activities in India and pamphlets and books printed in Pakistan.

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