[14] Two days after the 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings, the extremist group[15] sent an e-mail to Indian media in which they claimed responsibility for the attacks[16] and said they would "demolish the faiths (all religions apart from Islam) of the infidels of India.
"[17] The biggest and boldest attack to date by the group was the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, where it gained national notoriety with a casualty of more than 50 people.
[2] In September 2011, the United States officially placed the Indian Mujahideen on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, with the State Department acknowledging that the group had engaged in several terrorist attacks in India and had regional aspirations with the ultimate aim of creating an "Islamic caliphate" across South Asia.
[23] The group was banned by the United Kingdom as it aimed at creating an Islamic state and implementing sharia law in India, by use of indiscriminate violence.
[12][25] The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh also played an instrumental role in the founding of the group and had earlier been involved with the Asif Reza Commando Force.
[12] Its signature weapons are timed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) made from ammonium nitrate, which it has used in most of its major attacks.
[12] Indian Mujahideen members are also known to have joined the Islamic State, as shown in one of their propaganda videos titled "The Bilad al-Hind [Land of India] – Between Pain and Hope".
The Armar brothers had split from Indian Mujahideen and formed these affiliates after a rift developed between them and Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal.
[43] Bashir, who had stayed in Ahmedabad along with Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, a co-conspirator, had bought five SIM cards using local names and addresses.
Many of the calls were from Juhapura, where Zahid Shaikh, one of the key members of the group, lived at Sandhi Avenue near the Sarkhej highway.
[44] In March 2014, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested four members of IM, out of which one was Waqas alias Javed, a bomb-making expert in the group.
[45] Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ashish Bhatia said that the terrorists had procured five SIM cards of phones that were switched off on the day of the blasts – 26 July.
Ejaz Sheikh, wanted in several cases including the 2010 Jama Masjid attack, was arrested on 6 September 2014 from the Saharanpur area of western Uttar Pradesh by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
[47] Mohammad Saif (the son of Samajwadi Party leader Shadab Ahmed)[48] was arrested while two hostiles managed to flee by possibly jumping the rooftops.
It is reported that Mohammad Saif has said that the plans to carry out several blasts across the country were mooted about three years ago when the Indian Mujahideen was formed.
Individuals from the area have been accused of the murders of Bollywood producer Gulshan Kumar in Mumbai and Left leader Shankar Guha Niyogi in Chhattisgarh.