Terrorism-related incidents in Madhya Pradesh since 2007

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March 31

Bhopal

The Special Court of the NIA has convicted two members of the SIMI-Abu Faizal (28) and Ikrar Sheikh (36) under the sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 395 (dacoity) of the IPC and sentenced life imprisonment to both of them in 2010 Dacoity case. The accused had committed the dacoity and looted gold jewellery worth INR 1.46 crores and INR 41,000 in cash at Manappuram Finance Limited's branch at Hamidia Road in Bhopal on August 23, 2010.

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February 10

Indore

ATS from Mumbai detained a suspected SIMI operative from Khajrana area of Indore (Madhya Pradesh). The suspect identified as Jadil Parvez was held from Khijrabad Colony in the area where he had been living since the past 2-3 months, ATS sources claimed. Jadil, who hails from Unhel town of Ujjain District, had allegedly been living with his sister Heena.

SIMI 'chief' Safdar Nagori and other 10 members of his terrorist outfit were sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2008 case of sedition by a special CBI court in Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Special CBI judge B K Paloda convicted all 11 for sedition, collecting arms, ammunition and explosives with the intention to wage war against the nation and for being active members of a banned terrorist outfit. Nagori was the 'general secretary' of SIMI when it was banned. Besides 45-year-old Nagori, the others convicted are Hafiz Hussain (35), Aamil Parvaz (40), Shivli (38), Qamruddin (42), Shahduli (32), Qamran (40), Ansar (35), Ahmed Baig (32), Yasin (35) and Munroz (40).

"The judgment was delivered to 10 of the 11 accused through video-conferencing as they are lodged in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad where they are being tried for the Ahmedabad blasts (Gujarat, 2008)," public prosecutor Vimal Mishra said. Only one of the accused, dental student from Karnataka Munroz, was in the Indore court and his father wept upon hearing the verdict.

In the first-ever strike in India by Islamic State (IS), a module radicalised by the terrorist organisation triggered a low-intensity blast in Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train Madhya Pradesh, injuring 9 passengers. The incident occurred near Jabdi station in Shajapur District of Madhya Pradesh. A high alert has been sounded across the state after the explosion. IG (Law and Order) Makrand Deouskar said the explosion was caused by a pressure pipe bomb filled with ammonia nitrate kept inside a bag on the luggage rack.

Moments after the train blast, three men were held as they stepped off a bus near Pipariya in Hoshangabad District of Madhya Pradesh and after they were interrogated they revealed of other suspects in Lucknow and Kanpur. Following a standard protocol, the information was shared with Central Intelligence agencies, which alerted the Uttar Pradesh Police and the state ATS. Three men arrested in Pipariya, Madhya Pradesh are identified as Danish Akhtar alias Jaffar, Aatish Muzaffar alias Al Kasim (both from Kanpur) and Syed Mir Hussain alias Humza a native of Aligarh, in Uttar Pradesh.

A 26-year-old man, identified as A Shaikh, was detained in Khargone District of Madhya Pradesh by the Maharashtra ATS in connection with a case related to Islamic State (IS). He is being brought to Mumbai for questioning, a senior Police official said here. According to Police, Shaikh, who has completed his M.Tech, was allegedly in constant touch with one of the accused in the case, who was earlier arrested for his alleged links with the banned terror group. "Shaikh has not been placed under arrest so far. We are examining his role in the case," the official said without elaborating further.

The NIA has registered a FIR in the latest Islamic State (ISIS) inspired cases in the Madhya Pradesh and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) terror operations. The principal focus of the investigators would now be to digitally track the mastermind behind the modules, who is believed to be abroad. The move is to ensure that further radicalisation of Indian youth is stopped. After forces managed to identify a Lucknow terror module linked to ISIS, top intelligence sources had confirmed that search activities were initiated to find 20 odd youths who might have joined the Islamic radical group earlier and are now back in the country. As per information, all the 20 members - mostly based out of Kerala - were in Syria recently and might have returned to India to act on the radical groups agenda. While there have been no ISIS related terror activities in India, the Lucknow terror module raised a lot of security concerns for the country. The Centre has pinpointed five states where ISIS activists could surface, including Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Intelligence operations have already commenced in these states for monitoring any kind of terror activity.

Two of the three men arrested from Madhya Pradesh within hours of an explosion on board the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train on March 7 have told the NIA that their original target was not this train but the Lucknow-Bhopal Pushpak Express on which they travelled the previous night, Indian Express reports on March 28. Atif Muzaffar and Syed Mir Husain told the NIA that they travelled in the Pushpak Express on March 6 with an explosives-filled bag, but could not plant it because of the "heavy rush" and "alert passengers".

Official sources said Atif bought three tickets for the Pushpak Express but throughout the journey, they could not find a suitable spot or the right time to plant the bomb. They got off at Bhopal railway station on March 7-morning where Atif and Danish made a last-minute decision to place the bomb on the passenger train that was waiting to leave for Ujjain. "After their failure to plant the bomb on the Pushpak Express, they got desperate. They managed to get into the last coach of the Bhopal-Ujjain train that was about to leave the station, left the bag filled with explosives and got off", sources said. The explosion left 10 persons injured.

From the question of the arrested men, the NIA has learnt that the four Saifullah included met each other in December 2015 and two months later, in February 2016, they decided to form a group in the name of jihad. "They rented a room in Lucknow where they gave themselves "code" names - Jiya Abu Ibrahim for Atif; Jafar Abu Ismail for Danish; Ali Abu Makaiel for Saifullah; and, Hamza Abu Waqas for Husain," sources said. Syed Mir Husain told his interrogators that they used the code names while interacting with each other, and also with the intention of hiding their original identities. "Saifullah had even made a fake ID card in the name of Ali," sources said.

For one year, from February 2016 to February 2017, the four travelled across the country, hoping to cross over into Pakistan from Jammu, Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan; or into Bangladesh, but found it was not as simple as they had imagined.

They also went to Kozhikode in Kerala to explore ways of "migrating to the Caliphate". While they did not meet with much success, they met several persons who they thought could help them establish contact with the IS, sources said. In July 2016, during Ramzan, Atif became the ameer (chief) of the group and the four took the oath of allegiance to the Islamic State.

Indore

A homoeopath doctor and his associate were arrested on August 1, in Indore (Madhya Pradesh) for allegedly printing FICNs in invalid denomination of INR 500. Police seized five pieces of the notes from Dr Deepesh Yadav (34) and his aide Krishna Rathore (21). Pardeshipura Police Station in-charge Rajiv Tripathi said they also seized a computer, a scanner and a printer used for printing the notes from the duo. "We are interrogating them to find out how many such fake notes they have circulated so far," he added.

Gwalior

Madhya Pradesh ATS in a joint operation with Punjab Police arrested three men and busted a terror module that sources say had direct links with Pakistan's ISI backed banned terror outfit ISYF. The arrests were made from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior city. Those arrested have been identified as Balvinder Gill, Balkar Singh and Sathyendra Rawat. The trio was picked up from their hideouts in Dabra, Chinor and Dulpura area of Gwalior. Two of them were also associated with KLF, said officials.

Gwalior

The three men arrested on August 9 night by Madhya Pradesh ATS and Punjab Police had supplied pistols to pro-Khalistan militants for targeted political killings in Punjab. The arrested trio includes cousin of a Canada-based Khalistan separatist leader. The three were identified as Balkar Singh (45), Balwindar Singh (28) and Satyendra Rawat (26) from Dabra, Thatipur and Chinor areas of Gwalior District. According to key sources connected with the joint operation, Balkar was originally a native of Gurdaspur District of Punjab, who had migrated to Gwalior District over three decades back and was primarily engaged in agriculture.

Khandwa

Three SIMI members were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Bhopal special court for attempted murder of a BJYM activist in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa town in 2009. While BJYM president Pramod Tiwari had escaped unhurt, a BJYM activist, Dubey was critically injured in the attack that took place on the night of January 2, 2009. There were seven accused in the murder case, but four of them were killed in an alleged encounter near Bhopal in 2016. Besides Abu Faisal - who was the key conspirator in the attack and is facing trial in other terror-related cases - Abdullah Hussain and Raquib were sentenced to life imprisonment for attempt to murder Dubey. The trio were also sentenced to 10 years in jail for the attempt on Tiwari's life by Special Judge Girish Dixeet. Both the sentences will run concurrently.

Bhopal

The 'chief' of the SIMI, Abu Faisal and Sarafat Ali, have been sentenced to three years imprisonment each by the CJM Court in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, in connection with the Khandwa jail break. A fine has also been imposed on both of them. The jailed duos have been named in the controversial Khandwa jail break of 2013. The SIMI is said to be involved in similar incident in 2016 where eight SIMI terrorists were killed in an encounter after escaping from the Bhopal Central Jail.

Bhind

The Beed Police and Madhya Pradesh (MP) Police team jointly neutralised a FICN racket, seizing fake currency worth INR 1,50000 in denomination of INR 100 and INR 50 from Sayed Shakoor Shabir and arrested him in a joint action from an unknown location. According to Beed Police sources, MP Police had arrested one Kartar Singh who was circulating fake notes of INR 61,000 in market at Bhind in MP. He confessed that he got fake currency from Shabir hailing from Beed. MP Police team With the help of Beed Police raided house of Shabir and seized FICN along with printing material and machines from his possession.

Patnipura

Five men were arrested, for printing and distributing FICN in Indore. The members of an inter-state gang have till now printed INR 10,00,000 in fake notes in the denominations of INR 2,000, INR 500 and INR 100 and consignments were also sent to other states. Police recovered INR 2,60,000 fake notes from their possession. Working on a tip off, Police arrested five persons found trying to use the notes in Patnipura area.

Bhopal

An absconding accused involved in printing FICNs and circulating them in market, identified as Abhishek Chouhan was arrested by Bhopal city crime branch in Betma in Indore District. He was on the run after his five accomplices were arrested a few days ago. ASP (crime) Amarendra Singh said that following a tip off about the presence of accused Abhishek Chouhan in his residence in Betma, a joint team of crime branch and MIG Police Station reached Betma and arrested him. A printer, cutter and fake notes amounting INR 7,100 were also recovered from the accused.

During sustained interrogation, the accused told Police that he works with a company in Pithampur. Prime accused of the gang Naresh had given him lift on his bike in Pithampur a few days ago following which they became friends. Naresh told him that he prints FICNs of INR 2000, 500 and 100 at home. Later, Naresh gave him fake notes of INR 5,000 to circulate it in the market. Abhishek later started printing fake notes with Naresh and accused Rameshwar at their home in Pithampur. To circulate the notes in the market, they included Rajesh, Chandrashekhar and Nandu in their group. Abhishek also confessed to circulate fake notes in Indore, Dhar and Ujjain as well.

Earlier, Crime Branch team had arrested five accused named Naresh Pawar, Narendra Chouhan, Rajesh Mali, Chandrashekhar Parmar and Rameshwar Parihar a week ago in connection with the printing of FICN and recovered INR 2.60 lakh from them. The investigation is underway into the case

Ujjain

Gujarat ATS picked up one person, identified as Uruzkhan Pathan of Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) for questioning in connection with the firearms which were to be supplied to alleged Islamic State (IS) operatives, Ubaid Mirza and Kasim Stimberwala who were arrested by Gujarat ATS on October 25. According to the FIR registered by ATS, both Mirza and Stimberwala were planning to carry out 'lone wolf' attacks on a synagogue in Khamasa area of Ahmedabad city to kill Jews. Senior ATS officials said that Pathan had been picked up but not yet arrested. He works at a bakery in Ujjain. "During Pathan's interrogation, it came to light that Ubaid Mirza had met him in Delhi," said a senior ATS official. Later, Ubaid had phoned Pathan and asked him to arrange for an imported pistol and some ammunition.

Senior ATS officials said they suspect that Pathan knew that the weapons were to be used for a lone wolf attack on the Synagogue in Khamasa area of Ahmedabad. "On the directions of Ubaid, Stimberwala had recced the Synagogue on 12th of September with logistic support from two in Ahmedabad. Both Ubaid and Stimberwala were to flee to Jamaica after the attack to take shelter with a radical preacher named Mohammed el Faisal who was born as William Forrest" a senior ATS official added. Sources in ATS also said Ubaid was in contact with one Zabiullah of Tamil Nadu who was to help him smuggle gold with the help of one air hostess based in Tamil Nadu. "We have dispatched a team to Tamil Nadu to record the statement of Zabiullah and track the air hostess," an ATS officer said.

Ujjain

Gujarat ATS picked up one person, identified as Uruzkhan Pathan of Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) for questioning in connection with the firearms which were to be supplied to alleged Islamic State (IS) operatives, Ubaid Mirza and Kasim Stimberwala who were arrested by Gujarat ATS on October 25. According to the FIR registered by ATS, both Mirza and Stimberwala were planning to carry out 'lone wolf' attacks on a synagogue in Khamasa area of Ahmedabad city to kill Jews. Senior ATS officials said that Pathan had been picked up but not yet arrested. He works at a bakery in Ujjain. "During Pathan's interrogation, it came to light that Ubaid Mirza had met him in Delhi," said a senior ATS official. Later, Ubaid had phoned Pathan and asked him to arrange for an imported pistol and some ammunition.

Senior ATS officials said they suspect that Pathan knew that the weapons were to be used for a lone wolf attack on the Synagogue in Khamasa area of Ahmedabad. "On the directions of Ubaid, Stimberwala had recced the Synagogue on 12th of September with logistic support from two in Ahmedabad. Both Ubaid and Stimberwala were to flee to Jamaica after the attack to take shelter with a radical preacher named Mohammed el Faisal who was born as William Forrest" a senior ATS official added. Sources in ATS also said Ubaid was in contact with one Zabiullah of Tamil Nadu who was to help him smuggle gold with the help of one air hostess based in Tamil Nadu. "We have dispatched a team to Tamil Nadu to record the statement of Zabiullah and track the air hostess," an ATS officer said.

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January 20

Madhya Pradesh

A high alert has been sounded in Madhya Pradesh after a suspected terrorist, Syed Ahmed in custody escaped by jumping off a moving train near Itarsi railway station in Hoshangabad District. "Syed Ahmed had been arrested in Vellore in Tamil Nadu from where he was being taken on Raptisagar Express on a court warrant to Lucknow [Uttar Pradesh]. He managed to jump off the train when it was running slow near the Itarsi station," Hoshangabad Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Pratap Singh said. Ahmad had threatened to blow up a number of places, including a 'dargah' (Sufi shrine) in Lucknow, and had a number of cases registered against him in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Putli Ghar area / Bhopal

The NIA arrested a 24-year-old terror suspect, identified as Azhar Iqbal from Putli Ghar area of Bhopal as part of the agency's crackdown on alleged sympathisers of Islamic State (IS). A resident of Barkheda in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen District, Iqbal was said to be hiding in the residence of one Laik Ahmed before NIA sleuths apprehended him, sources said.

According to the sources, he used to move around with some members of the group and even attended some of its meetings. Conspiracy to carry out terror attacks was purportedly discussed at these meetings. NIA is investigating a large scale conspiracy in which young men from across the country were allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in the name of the IS.

In a joint operation, the Odisha Police, Telangana Police, Central Intelligence Bureau and Tactical Wing of Odisha SoG arrested five suspected SIMI cadres, including a woman member, from Quereshi Mohalla area in Rourkela in Sundergarh District. The arrested cadres were identified as Mehboob alias Guddu (27), Amzad Khan alias Dowd (27), Zakir Khan alias Sadik (32), Mahammed Salik alias Sallu (32) and Nazma, mother of Maheboob, all hailing from Khandawa District in Madhya Pradesh. According to Arun Sarangi, the arrested SIMI rebels were involved in at least 17 explosions in Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Besides, they were also carrying out anti-social activities in Bihar and Jharkhand. In 2013, all the terrorists had escaped from Khandwa Jail in Madhya Pradesh and were hiding in Rourkela since then. After the jailbreak, the terrorists killed two Police personnel during a bank loot incident in Telangana. They decamped with INR 48 lakh from the bank. The extremists also killed a Policeman in Madhya Pradesh. They were also involved in several train robbery cases and a bank loot incident in Sundargarh District of Odisha.

Bomb making literature of al Qaeda is emerging as favourite guidebook for SIMI and IM operatives in India. Ongoing interrogation of the four suspected SIMI operatives arrested on February 17, 2016 from Rourkela city area in Sundergarh District of Odisha revealed that they and other lone wolf attackers had learnt from al-Qaeda literature how to make bombs and trigger blasts in the country. The four SIMI men who had escaped from Tantya Bheel Jail in Khandwa District of Madhya Pradesh on October 1, 2013 have revealed during questioning by intelligence agencies and MP ATS, that they had learnt how to make low intensity pressure bombs out of al-Qaeda's bomb making literature.

It was revealed that the pipe borne explosives were subsequently triggered with the help of timer device in May 2014 in the Bengaluru-Guwahati Express train at Chennai railway station. Similar explosive was used to trigger blast in the Faraskhana Police Station premises at Pune in July 2014, central intelligence and MP ATS sources stated on March 14.

A similar explosive blasted while being prepared by the SIMI men at their hideout in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor, resulting in severe burn injuries to one of them, Sheikh Mehboob alias Guddu in September 2014. The four SIMI operatives, including Sheikh Mehboob alias Guddu, Zaqir, Amjad and Mohammad Saliq, who were arrested from their hideout in Odisha's Rourkela District on February 17 are presently being grilled by MP ATS and central intelligence agencies.

Police seized a cache of explosives, including detonators from a bag stashed in a hostel room in Ujjain District of Madhya Pradesh, ringing alarm bells about a possible terror strike at the Mahakumbh. The seizure comes exactly a month after the arrests of runaway SIMI operatives who had enacted the daring Khandwa jailbreak. Owner of the bag, Sajid Khan, had checked into Room No. 212, Atishay Sheel Jain Hostel on March 18 after showing his Aadhaar card at the counter. He left the room soon after dumping his luggage and told the manager he was going out for lunch.

Gujarat ATS arrested a suspected SIMI operative, Nasir Rangrez, wanted in the July 26, 2008 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, from Khade Bazar Road of Belgam in Karnataka. According to officials who arrested Rangrez, he was part of larger conspiracy, hatched by terror outfits IM and SIMI, to spread terror in Gujarat to avenge the killings of Muslims during post-Godhra riots. "Before carrying out the blasts in the city, Rangrez along with many other accused associated with SIMI and IM recruited Muslim men to take revenge of riots and provided them training at Pavagadh in Gujarat, Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh and Waghamon in Kerala," official statement said.

Khandwa

The Crime Branch of Odisha Police filed the charge sheet against five SIMI activists arrested in February at the Rourkela SDJM court in Sundergarh District. The four SIMI militants and a woman, Najma (mother of Sheikh Mehmood, one of the four) were arrested by the Police from a rented house in Rourkela on February 16, 2016. All of them are residents of Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh and were among the most-wanted terrorists in the country. The NIA had announced an INR 10 lakh reward on each of their heads.

Bhopal

ATS of MP Police killed eight suspected SIMI cadres in Bhopal. They were killed 10 kilometres away from a prison in city outskirts. Two policemen were also injured in the encounter which lasted for nearly an hour.

The slain militants were identified as - Mohammad Aqeel Khilji alias Abdullah s/o Mohammad Yusuf, Mehboob Guddu alias Malik s/o Ismail of Khandwa (MP), Mohammad Khalid Ahmad s/o Mohammad Saleem of Sholapur Maharashtra, Mujeeb Sheikh alias Akram alias Wasim alias Nawed alias Nitin alias Faizan alias Chintoo alias Yusuf s/o Zamal Ahmad resident of Juhapura (Ahmedabad) Gujarat, Amzad s/o Ramzan Khan, Zakir Hussein Sheikh alias Vicky don alias Vinay Kumar s/o Badalul Hussein and Abdul Majid s/o Mohammad Yusuf of Ujjain (MP).

Theses militants had escaped from a prison at the outskirts of Bhopal. "Eight SIMI activists had escaped around 2-3am [October 31] by killing a jail security guard," DIG Bhopal Raman Singh had said. Their location was detected near Manikheda area under Gunga police station following information from local villagers. "When they were confronted by a few the villagers, they started pelting stones. Villagers mistook them as robbers and alerted the police. When they were asked to surrender, they opened fire forcing police to retaliate," said Inspector General Yogesh Chaudhary who was part of the operation. They were carrying date and other food materials with them. Efforts are being made to trace identity of those who supported them in the jail break.

Bhopal

Modus operandi of Bhopal prison break same as 2013 Khandwa jailbreak. The fugitives also used bed sheets as ropes to scale the towering wall before escaping on two bikes parked in the jail premises. They had also broken the bathroom wall in their escape bid. Two Constables who confronted them had suffered stab injuries. There was also a exchange of fire by the security forces who tried to prevent the escape, but it ended in vain. Banned in 2001, the SIMI has alleged links with home-grown terror outfit IM and several of its top leaders have been in jail.

Bhopal

Of the eight SIMI militants killed by the Madhya Pradesh Police in the outskirts of Bhopal, four -- Sheikh Mahboob alias Guddu, Amjad Khan alias Dawood, Zakir Hussein alias Sadiq and Mohammed Salik alias Sallu were arrested by the Telangana Police in a joint operation in Rourkela in Odisha in February, 2016. They were wanted in criminal cases registered in Telangana. Along with the four SIMI activists, Mahboob's mother Nazma Bi was also arrested by Telangana Counter Intelligence sleuths and the Odisha Police in the joint operation. After October 31 encounter in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana Police officials confirmed that the four were also named as accused in the April 2015 killing of a Constable and a home guard at Suryapet town in Nalgonda District in Telangana.

Bhopal

Underground members of the banned SIMI may use the Bhopal encounter, in which eight suspected SIMI terrorists were killed, to instigate Muslims against the central government and Madhya Pradesh government. Intelligence agencies have warned that SIMI may start its anti-national operations again with fresh recruitment. Intelligence agencies are of the view that the banned outfit would use Bhopal encounter to instigate Muslim youth to carry out terror attacks.

Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh (MP) High Court rejected bail plea of suspected SIMI cadre - Mohammad Sajid alias Sheru for the third consecutive time. Sajid, a resident of Ujjain, was arrested by MP ATS from Jabalpur in June 2011 along with eight others, including Mehboob Guddu and Sheikh Mujeeb, who were killed by Police On October 31 after jailbreak incident. Charged with robbery in Piplia Mandi, Mandsaur District, Sheru was arrested by MPATS in an operation called "Operation Vijay" from a rented place in Ahmednagar Mohalla near Raja Chowk in Jabalpur with other SIMI/IM cadres. His first bail application was dismissed with direction to the trial court to conclude the trial within 15 months after framing of charge within one month. Second application was dismissed in view of earlier order dated January 20, 2016.

Bhopal

The Madhya Pradesh state government has ordered a probe into the escape of eight SIMI terror accused from Bhopal Central Jail, and senior Police officers in Madhya Pradesh have admitted that the jailbreak was not the result of lax policing, but an 'insider job', because of several discoveries that have alarmed investigators. A senior police officer said that the extent of insider help for the escape of the SIMI men was 'staggering'. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh also said that it was "impossible to escape without inside collusion" and alleged that the jailbreak was facilitated by "funding from outside".

Bhopal

The eight suspected SIMI operatives who were killed in an alleged encounter after their escape from Bhopal Central Jail on October 31, dreamed of fighting for Islamic State (IS), according to Police sources. This was disclosed to the Police by nine other SIMI activists who are lodged in the jail, said sources privy to the jailbreak investigations. The escapees, especially AqeelKhilji, Amjad, Zakir and Mehboob, harboured wish of joining the IS fighters in Syria, sources said quoting the SIMI men. Despite knowing about the shrinking IS base in Iraq and Syria, the eight were determined to go to that country, police said. Police also claimed that the SIMI men had often planned to flee India via Nepal with the help of contacts in Uttar Pradesh and eastern India.

Shahdol District

Madhya Pradesh Police neutralised a FICN racket and arrested two persons for printing FICN in Shahdol District. Copies of FICN worth INR 2,000 in new currency notes and printing materials like printer and scanner were confiscated from the counterfeiters. An inquiry has been launched into the matter.

Chhatarpur District

Police arrested two persons, identified as Dharmendra Singh (26) and Kamta Prashad (26) and recovered FICNs worth of INR 2.92 lakh from Kanchanpur village of Bundelkhand region in Chhatarpur District. The youth were circulating the notes in the rural area of the region. After a tip-off, the Police recovered 146 fake currency notes worth INR 2.92 lakh, said SDO of Police, Luvkush Nagar, LS Mishra.

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January 26

Bhopal District

A man, identified as Zahoor Khan was arrested, along with FICN worth INR 5,60,000 from Habibganj railway station in Bhopal District of Madhya Pradesh. "Sehore-resident Zahoor Khan brought the fake currency from Malda in West Bengal. He had arrived in the Dakshin Express. He was dealing in counterfeit currency for the past 7-8 years and is expected to have pumped duplicate currency worth Rs 10 lakh so far," said ASP Shailendra Singh Chouhan.

Old Pandhurna in Chhindwara District

Maharashtra ATS along with the Madhya Pradesh Police carried out raid at a house owned by Khusal Madankar in old Pandhurna in Chhindwara District in Madhya Pradesh and recovered huge amount of ammunition and explosive materials. Police have recovered 1,768 electric detonators, 612 sticks of Kelvex power 90 Class-2 explosive, 840 feet Detonating cord, one exploder and other related equipments. Police registered a case against two persons, identified as Mukesh Sankhla and Rajmal Sankhla, both belong to Bhilwada District in Rajasthan. The accused have been booked under the Indian Explosive Substance Act-1908. Investigation of the crime is being done by Chhindwara Police. ATS Nagpur unit is interrogating the accused for any suspected link with anti-national elements, terror outfits or Naxal elements.

Hoshangabad District

The Delhi High Court has sought the response of the Narendra Modi Government over a security breach in the printing of currency at a mint in Hoshangabad District in Madhya Pradesh. Acting on a PIL filed earlier this month, the court has asked how lapses led to the printing of bank notes with threads having Arabic inscriptions on them in 2012. The security thread is one of the key distinguishing features in a bank note to prevent counterfeiting. The PIL says the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India at Hoshangabad practically printed fake notes.

Bhopal railway station

Two persons, identified as Sujeet Singh and Gausul Azim were arrested at Bhopal railway station in Madhya Pradesh for possessing FICN worth INR 2.70 lakh, the Crime Branch claimed. Both the accused are the residents of West Bengal. D Sreenivasa Varma, DIG of Police, Bhopal zone, said following a tip-off, two persons were detained from the railway station. When Police searched their bags and baggage, fake currency worth INR 2.70 lakh was recovered. "They were given money by one Mantu Sekh, a resident of West Bengal, and asked to hand over to one Zahoor Khan alias Pahalwan. Though, they were not aware that Zahoor has been arrested by the crime branch," said Varma. The accused were produced in the court and remanded to the Police custody till March 3.

Ratlam

Five persons from Madhya Pradesh, identified as Imran Khan Muhammad Sharif, Wasim Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Anwar and Mazhar arrested from the town of Ratlam were part of an IS-linked jihad cell planning strikes in India. Imran Khan Muhammad Sharif, the leader of the five accused is alleged to have been recruited online by an Indian jihadist he knew as "Yusuf" - code, investigators say, for Karnataka-born Muhammad Shafi Armar, a fugitive IM operative now leading group of Indians fighting with the IS.

Satna railway station

A joint team of CBI's Delhi and Jabalpur unit arrested two persons, identified as Bablu and Rajeev Gupta from Satna railway station in Madhya Pradesh and seized a superfine quality of FICN with a face value of INR 1,049,000 from their possession.

Madhya Pradesh

The IS linked terror module (Madhya Pradesh) was being persuaded by its Syria-based handlers to target BJP and RSS leaders, apart from Police officers, outside Madhya Pradesh. Sources in the intelligence agencies said the five-member group had, on the instructions of one Yusuf-Al-Hindi, acquired two pistols and learnt how to assemble IEDs from locally available explosives.

Madhya Pradesh

The UMHA has written to the Madhya Pradesh Government proposing a probe by the NIA into the IS-linked module arrested on April 15 in Ratlam. "We have asked Madhya Pradesh if it has any objections to handing over the case to NIA, given its international linkages. Once the state authorities give their clearance, a formal notification transferring the case to the NIA will be issued," a senior UMHA officer stated.

Bhopal

A week after Bhopal Police arrested Waqar Khan a 43-year-old man running a private security agency on May 9 with possession of wireless sets tuned to banned frequencies of Army and police, Police seized around 70 more wireless sets from him. He is on a Police remand till May 19. State ATS, military intelligence and related agencies have joined investigations following its international ramifications.

Two SIMI cadres were awarded two years' rigorous imprisonment for indulging in unlawful activities, in Sehore (Madhya Pradesh). The sentence was awarded by Judicial Magistrate Pravendra Kumar Singh to Abdul Karim and Rafiq Khan for having indulged in unlawful activities in 2008, Assistant Public Prosecutor Savita Salika said.They were arrested on April 6, 2008, while distributing "objectionable" material against India. The Police also recovered a diary which had names as well as addresses of SIMI activists in different places of Madhya Pradesh: Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Mahidpur and Chachouda, besides pamphlets, Salika said. The court also imposed a fine of INR 2,000 on each of the two.

Chief of Madhya Pradesh unit of banned SIMI, Abu Faisal alias Doctor, was pronounced guilty for the murder of anti-terrorist squad constable Sitaram Yadav by a special court in Bhopal. Sitaram Yadav, who tracked down the SIMI terror network in the state, was shot on a highway in Khandwa District by Faisal and his gang on November 29, 2009. Special judge B S Bhadoria will state quantum of punishment on October 31. Another accused Mehtab was convicted under Arms Act in the same case.

A special court at Bhopal awarded life imprisonment to the 'chief' of Madhya Pradesh unit of SIMI, Abu Faisal alias Doctor. Doctor was found guilty of murdering an ATS Constable Sitaram Yadav in 2009. Besides murder, court also sentenced him to life imprisonment under section 16A of UAPA. The SIMI operative participated in the hearing through video conferencing.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh Police sounded a high alert in the State following intelligence input of possible terror strike during the coming festive season. DGP Surendra Singh has ordered all the SP for stepping up the security in their respective Districts in the wake of the possible strike from terror groups including the banned outfit, SIMI.

Police arrested one person, identified as Rahul Shahi and seized nine FICN of INR 100 denomination from his possession, in Bhopal.

Neemrani village / Khargone District

Police arrested five persons along with FICN with a face value of INR 5,800 at Neemrani village in Khargone District of Madhya Pradesh. Those arrested have been identified as Rajvinder Singh, Krishna Tilakraj Gupta, Shyanu Kishan Gupta, Rahil Kishan Gupta and Lucky, all residents of Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir). Another member of the gang, Aju Lalgarh, however, managed to flee the spot along with a bag containing fake currency.