The Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the Jaipur blasts. This is the second time that the name of this lesser known outfit is coming to the forefront. The first time that the country heard of this outfit was during the Uttar Pradesh court blasts in November last year.

The Indian Mujahideen had in an email claimed responsibility for the UP blasts. Though investigating agencies probed into the antecedents of this new outfit, finally they came to the conclusion that the blasts were undertaken by HuJI.

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau told rediff.com that the Indian Mujahideen is a creation of the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihadi and the rejuvenated banned outfit SIMI.

When the HuJI roped in SIMI to carry out logistic work for it in India, it was also decided that they would use two pseudo names to claim responsibility after the attack. While Indian Mujahideen was one of the names, the other was Guru Alhindi.

Investigators looking into the Hyderabad and the UP blasts which are similar in nature told rediff.com that though the Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility, they have not found any traces of this outfit.  None of the material had mentioned the name of Indian Mujahideen.

It was during the interrogations that took place in Karnataka where seven suspected terrorists were arrested did the name Indian Mujahideen figure for the first time. These persons were questioned about the outfit and they reportedly told the police that it was a pseudonym  used by SIMI activists to divert the police. It was also revealed that for every person in the force, it was mandatory to have five different names.

This is a relatively new ploy by HuJI and SIMI in order to keep their identity concealed.  After the UP blasts, a mail had been sent in the name of Mohammad Shameem, claiming that the Indian Mujahideen had carried out the attack.

Investigations in the case only revealed that Shameem was a HuJI operative involved in the recruitment of youth in the North. The IB also says that by concealing their identity, they also avoid international pressure which has stepped up the war on terror. Hence by floating pseudo names, not only do they distract the police from the main line of investigation, but keep the heat low on themselves.