The militant wing was co-founded by Aamir Reza Khan, Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal. Among the other founder members were Sadiq Shaikh (arrested) and Atif Amin (killed in the Batla House encounter in New Delhi).
The outfit was first named Furqan. In Arabic it means one who differentiates between haq and batil.
The members later thought the name was too technical for common men to understand. They rechristened the outfit Isaba, which in Arabic means the battalion of Prophet Mohammed. But again, not everyone was happy with it. Finally, they settled on the name Indian Mujahideen.
It was Riyaz Bhatkal who first coined the name Indian Mujahideen in the emails he sent to some media houses just minutes before the Jaipur blasts in May 2008.
