…plans to interrogate jailed SIMI chief Nagori, brother

Express News Service Posted: Aug 20, 2008 at 0257 hrs
Ahmedabad, August 19 The Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) is planning to interrogate hardline SIMI leader Safdar Nagori and a few others, who are presently lodged in Madhya Pradesh jails, in connection with the July 26 blasts.

According to DCB officials, Nagori had been in touch with a number of SIMI leaders in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

Some of the other SIMI activists whom the DCB may bring to Ahmedabad for questioning include Nagori's younger brother Karimuddin, Ameel Parvez and the chief of SIMI in Kerala, Shibly Peedical. At present, all of them are languishing in Madhya Pradesh jails.

"Nagori and Karimuddin were the key trainers at the SIMI camps organised in Kerala (December 2007) and Halol in Gujarat (January 2008)," said Joint Commissioner of Police (DCB) Ashish Bhatia.

He added, "These two are the key men behind the Ahmedabad blasts. They may also be involved in the Jaipur and Hyderabad blasts."

"At the moment, we are concentrating on the interrogation of those arrested by us. Later, we will bring Nagori for interrogation, as we believe he was instrumental in planning the blasts. He might have also arranged for funds to procure the explosives," Bhatia said.

According to DCB officials, the Nagoris regularly visited SIMI activists in Vadodara and Ahmedabad. Also, they were in constant touch with some of the accused arrested by the DCB for their role in the blasts.

The Madhya Pradesh Police had arrested Nagori on March 26, 2008, following which other SIMI activists started planning to get him out of prison.