Indian Mujahideen, SIMI, now PFI: Why is Bihar a happy-grouping ground for terrorists

There has been a population explosion in Samastipur and Darbhanga and has to take into account the illegal infiltrations of Bangladeshis into these areas

New Delhi, Feb 08: The banned Popular Front of India's (PFI) modus operandi looks very similar to that of the Indian Mujahideen.

A quick re-cap: The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Some of its leaders along with the cadres of the PFI met at at the Wagamon camp in Kerala, following which the Indian Mujahideen was born. Its leader Yasin Bhatkal marred one Zahida Irshad Khan from Bihar. He had told her that he was working as an Imam. He then entered Bihar and lived in the guise of a unani doctor during which time, he built the infamous Darbhanga module of the Indian Mujahideen which was responsible for scores of attacks.

The National Investigation has made seven arrests in the latest PFI case and most of them are from Motihari. It may be recalled that Yasin Bhatkal had been arrested from the India-Nepal border near Motihari.

Looking at the developments, it is clear that the PFI has an extensive network in Bihar and hence the NIA's radar is very high on this state. An official tells OneIndia that the PFI could be using the leftover networks of the Indian Mujahideen and the support of the local people there to regroup. Moreover in the absence of a ban for long, it has managed to build its own networks in smaller towns of Bihar.

In the case of the Indian Mujahideen too one had witnessed that after every blast carried out, the accused persons including Yasin would return to Bihar, where he managed to give the agencies a slip for long.

Further it has also been learnt that the PFI has been recruiting youths from East Champaran and Muzaffarpur districts. Both East Champaran were earlier naxal affected areas. In June 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs declared East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Jehanabad, Nalanda and Atwal naxalite free.

The probe also revealed that the PFI operatives were running a training camp.

The Bihar modules:

In July 2022, the NIA had raided certain locations at Shakarpur village in Darbhanga in connection with the Phulwari Sharif terror case. The case has links with the PFI.

The Darbhanga module in particular was the hardest for the agencies to penetrate when the Indian Mujahideen was active. The module was used to launch several terror attacks across the country and even the Bodh Gaya blasts were planned there.

In its chargesheet, the NIA had said that the Darbhanga module was set up Yasinand his associates, Asadullah Akthar, Manzar Imam and Ujjair Ahmed.

The advantage that these groups have with such modules, be it Darbhanga or Samastipur is the huge Muslim population.

If one looks at the 2011 census, the Muslim population in Darbhanga is at 27.76 per cent, while the Hindus are at 71.76 per cent. In Samastipur, the Hindus are at 89.18 per cent as opposed to the 10.62 per cent. While this is one part of the story, the real number of Muslim population will never come out owing to the huge influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. After West Bengal, Bihar is the most infested with this population.

In Bodh Gaya blast, it was learnt that terror modules had used illegal immigrants to carry out the blast. Another official says that not only do these illegal immigrants work as foot-soldiers for terror groups, but they also act as human shields for terror operatives, which is why the agencies find it is so hard to reach them.