The city of Hubli has known to be a hub for the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and several training camps were detected by the police on the outskirts of Hubli-Dharwad a few years ago. Anti-terror squads have even traced several locations where meetings of outlawed outfits were held and severel arrested terrorists have also claimed during interrogation that the city helped SIMI regroup ever since it was banned in 2001.
SIMI leader Adnan, who is the resident of Bijapur, has played an important role in strengthening the organisation in North Karnataka region. He was also involved in enlisting two students of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubli, into SIMI. Allah Baksh, house surgeon at KIMS, was also arrested by CoD for helping Adnan get a house on rent in Hubli.
The organisation members have held several rounds of meetings at various locations near a darghah on Soudatti Road, Dandeli forest near Dharwad and a farmhouse on Haliyal Road.
Several Islamic radicals, including Riyazuddin Nasir alias Mohammed Ghouse, Asadullah Abubaker and Mohmed Asif, were recently arrested police. During interrogation by CoD, they had also revealed that they have undergone rigorous training in firing at Kalhatagi forest area, just 30 km from the city. But such activities on the outskirts of Hubli-Dharwad have come down considerably following a spate of arrests. The arrest of five people from the city for suspected terror links has however raised concerns among the people of the twin cities. “We will tighten security and take all measures to trace people having nexus with terror outfits”, Hubli-Dharwad police commissioner B.A. Padmanayan said.