Chennai blasts: Evidence leads to discovery of South Indian Mujahideen

After the Chennai blasts on 1 May, investigating agencies suspected that the twin blasts were likely the handiwork of Indian Mujahideen (IM). However, latest developments suggest that an unknown IM module “South Indian Mujahideen (SIM)” may have been behind the twin blasts. According to a report in The Hindu, the police is looking for a man named Abubacker Siddique who may have formed this module independent of the IM. “The operatives behind the train explosions are believed to be home-grown Islamist terrorists,” says the piece. [caption id=“attachment_1504709” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of security personnel searching the Guwahati-Bangalore train. AFP[/caption] The report also states that Siddique is “known for precision killing, aiming only specific targets in Hindutva outfits.” The police were able to determine this after interrogating three Islamic extremists Panna Ismail, Bilal Malik and Police Fakrudeen who were arrested last year for attempting to plant a bomb during senior BJP leader LK Advani’s rath yatra in 2011. While this may renew suspicions that the intended target may have been BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who was due to speak at a rally in Nellore that day, the police are yet to find conclusive evidence to that end. A recent piece in The Indian Express says that the police were still trying to ascertain what the intended target was, “…the train, the Chennai station or any other particular place.” On 1 May, two blasts took place on Guwahati-Bangalore train, minutes after it entered the Chennai railway station. A 22-year-old woman was killed and 14 others injured in the blasts. Read the full report here.