The blast outside the Faraskhana police station in Pune in July and a blast in Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh on September 12 have sent out the message that the banned Students Islamic Movement of India is back in business.
Both blasts were carried out by a gang of five -- Zakir, Aslam, Amjad Hassan, Ejazuddin and Guddu -- who escaped from Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh in October 2013.
These SIMI members have taken it upon themselves to revive the outfit and the Pune blast was a message to Maharashtra's Anti Terror Squad of their existence and to boost recruitments in the region. Bijnor was chosen to rope in more members in light of the current communally charged atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh.
The Pune and Bijnor blasts were low-intensity in nature. Investigators believe they were not meant to cause harm.
With the five escapees from Khandwa jail set on a terror mission, a state of alert has been sounded in Gujarat following intelligence inputs that they plan to free SIMI leader Safdar Nagori who is imprisoned in the state.
Image: The blast site near the Faraskhana police station in Pune.
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