Absconding SIMI operatives arrested

Four activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who had escaped from a jail in Madhya Pradesh in 2013, and a woman were arrested from Rourkela today.

The SIMI members, wanted by NIA, were arrested from a house in the steel city after a special operation launched on the basis of intelligence inputs, Director General of Police K B Singh said.

The three-hour-long operation involving an exchange of fire was conducted jointly by the tactical unit of Odisha's Special Operation Group (SOG) and Telangana Police at Mala Road, another police official said.

The exact role of the woman and her antecedents were being ascertained, he said.The operatives of the banned outfit had escaped from a jail in MP's Khandwa district in 2013 and police teams of multiple states had been looking for them since them.A total of seven SIMI cadre had escaped from the jail.

While one had surrendered the very next day of the jail break, another was caught from Madhya Pradesh the same year and the rest five had been at large since then.These men, led by their leader Faisal and another prisoner, had made an audacious escape from the district jail in Khandwa after scaling a 14-foot wall.

The SIMI activists, who hail from Madhya Pradesh, had been staying at the place for the past about four years by using a false identity.

They were involved in SIMI activities in several states including Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

They were staying in Rourkela to collect money through dacoity and similar other activities.

Five guns and some ammunition were seized from the hideout.