The decision to continue the ban, imposed for the first time in September 2001, was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told in New Delhi.

“It has been decided to continue the ban on SIMI,” he told reporters when asked about the decision taken at the CCS meeting.

SIMI was banned for two years after intelligence reports showed that its cadres were joining Pakistan-based Lashker-e- Taiba (LeT) and was providing logistical support in setting up of “sleeper cells” in the hinterland. Some of its members had also received training by Lashker in Gulf countries.

The ban was subsequently extended in two occasions in the light of its clandestine activities and links with some terrorist outfits.

SIMI has been accused of carrying out terror attacks across the country, including the Mumbai train blasts in 2006.