The Centre on Friday extended the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the fifth since 2001, by two years from February seven, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Home Ministry officials said the decision was taken as security agencies have found evidence of SIMI planning and executing terror strikes in the country.
SIMI was declared outlawed for the first time in September 2001 for its involvement in terrorist acts and the ban was extended in 2003 and 2006.
The last ban on SIMI, formed in April 1977 as a youth wing of terror outfit Jamaat Islami-e-Hind, for two years was extended on February 8, 2008.
In its notification, the Home Ministry had declared SIMI as "unlawful association indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the country" and with "potential of disturbing peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country".
The group is alleged to have close links with Pakistan- based terror outfits, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish- e-Mohammad.
According to provisions of the Act, the Government will have to set up a tribunal headed by a sitting High Court judge to ratify the decision. The tribunal has to be set up within a month and a decision on the ban has to be taken within six months. SIMI has challenged similar bans in the past but has failed to have it overturned.
SIMI is alleged to be involved in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the Malegaon blasts.
According to security agencies, the organisation has its sympathisers and activists in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Maharashtra among others.
A tribunal of the Delhi High Court, while hearing a challenge from SIMI against a February 7, 2008 notification from the Home Ministry has lifted two-year ban on it.
The tribunal's order was later suspended by the Supreme Court. PTI
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