Two men convicted for being SIMI members

A court here on Wednesday convicted two men, including a convict in the Mumbai train blasts case, for being members of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Nafis Ansari and Ali Alam Shaikh were found guilty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Judge D E Kothalikar sentenced Ansari to a simple imprisonment for three months, which he has already served as an undertrial.

Shaikh was not awarded any jail term as he is already sentenced for the same offence (being member of an unlawful organisation) in the 2006 train blasts case, the judge said.

As per the prosecution, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the city police had received information that some SIMI members were planning to commit "disruption" during the Ganesh festival in 2006.

Shabbir Rahemtulla was arrested from Malegaon (in north Maharashtra) and Ansari from Govandi in Mumbai. Rahemtulla died during the trial.

According to the CID, the duo had visited Pakistan through Dubai for training in use of firearms and explosives. They returned to India in 2003.

Ali Alam Shaikh, wanted in the case, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in the July 2006 Mumbai train blasts case. The serial blasts on local trains in Mumbai killed 188 people and left over 800 injured.

Shaikh, the police alleged, was an active member of SIMI, and had undergone "military training" with the help of Riyaz Bhatkal, the alleged founder of terror organisation Indian Mujahideen.