Yahya Khan, who was picked up by the Bangalore police recently, is said to be the head of the banned SIMI in Karnataka. Sources say the arrest points at the renewed efforts by the banned outfit to spread terror in the state.

The police claim that he was in touch with several radical groups and had been planning to conduct several strikes at various installations in Karnataka.

They are now probing the activities of SIMI in the state. They say that as per the information received through the interrogation of Riyazuddin Naseer, Asadulla Abubaker and Mohammed Asif, the trio who were picked up a couple of weeks ago, the SIMI was actively involved in planning terror strikes in Karnataka.

The police are also now trying to locate the sleeper cells which were alleged to be set up by SIMI.

According to the narco-analysis report conducted on Junaid who was arrested in Mumbai in connection with the Malegaon blasts, the SIMI had set up several sleeper cells in Karnataka.

Investigations revealed that several terror modules could have been set up in Karnataka. Unofficial figures put the number of terror modules at 15 through out the state. Since 2004, the Karnataka cops busted 6 six terror modules in the state. Five were busted in 2006, and one in 2008.

Khan, sources say, is very close to Lashkar-e-Tayiba and had played a key role in the IISC attack case, too. Information regarding Khan was obtained by the UP police who later tipped off the Bangalore police.