The Harkat ul Jihadi Islami in turn took into its fold SIMI, which was looking to make its presence felt following the 2001 ban on the organisation. SIMI began executing attacks for HuJI. Now, IB officers believe SIMI has branched out into a new outfit, the Indian Mujahideen.
The Indian Mujahideen, the IB says, is made up of members from the lower rungs of the Students Islamic Movement of India who have sent out threatening e-mails and even carrying out attacks.
This is part of a bid to deflect the heat away from SIMI and HuJI and divert investigating agencies into believing that an entirely new outfit which does not have any connection with Pakistan-based terror organisations is executing these strikes.
The link between the Indian Mujahideen and HuJI is evident if one considers the e-mail ids used: guru_boys2000@yahoo.com, guru_alhindi@yahoo.fr, alhindi_jaipur@yahoo.co.uk< and alhindi_jaipur@yahoo.co.uk. IB officers say a HuJI operative, Jalaluddin alias Babu Bhai, has revealed that 'Guru' was their contact person and was based in New Delhi.
Image: Policemen and onlookers gather at the site of a blast, outside the civil court in Varanasi, on November 23, 2007.
Photograph: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Ahmedabad Blasts