The extremist group, whose signature style involves blasts in tiffin boxes and bicycles, is believed to be responsible for the twin blasts that rocked the city of Hyderabad on Thursday evening. Even though the banned group has not claimed responsibility for the attacks through e-mail (which is also their signature style of taking responsibility of their attacks), the modus operandi looks very similar to their previous bombings. They have used the same MO since the year 2007 in as many as seven blasts across the country, including Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Pune.

What is Indian Mujahideen?

According to the intel that we have, this Islamic terrorist group is not a well knit organization like its mother group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), rather, it's a network of Islamic organizations, which includes SIMI and other minor terror outfits. SIMI members Qayamuddin Kapadia, Usman Agarbattiwala and Sajid Mansuri were in favour of a formation of a loose network outfit (the IM) since December 2007, a year before the group carried out its first major attack in Jaipur on May 13, 2008. It's said that the IM was formed to avenge the 2002 Gujarat riots, but reasons could range from easy availability of money for the operatives to spreading Islamic fundamentalism across the country. The Azamgarh-based group's motive is to create an "Islamic Caliphate" across South Asia.

Who are the key members of IM?

The terror outfit was founded by Yasin Bhatka. Bhatkal aka Ahmad Zarar Siddibapa was born in Karnataka and was part of SIMI, before branching out in to his own. According to Indian intelligence, he is said to be the face behind the Bangalore stadium bombing in 2010 and the Pune bombing in 2012. Other key members are the Karnataka-born Bhatkal brothers- Riyaz and Iqbal, who were allegedly responsible for the Mumbai serial blasts in 2011 and for financing, providing logistics and for recruiting members for IM's network across the country. The other prominent members, who are desperately wanted by the Anti-Terrorist Squad are- Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez, Waqas alias Ahmed, and Tahaseen Akhtar alias Hasan.

(In pic: Suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad)

Claim to fame

Here is a brief timeline of all the blasts claimed by the internationally banned terror outfit:

UP blasts (2007)- Six consecutive serial blasts rocked Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad courts in Uttar Pradesh on November 23.

Jaipur bombings (2008)- Series of nine blasts went off in jaipur on May 13, while a tenth one was defused.

Bangalore blasts (2008)- series of nine bombs exploded, killing two people and injuring 20 on July 25.

Ahmedabad serial blasts (2008)- series of 21 bomb blasts hit Ahmedabad on July 26.

Delhi bombings (2008)- Five blasts were carried out in various locations across Delhi on September 13.

Pune bombing (2010)- Also known as the German bakery blast, which killed 17 people and injured over 60 people, on February 13.

Old Delhi attack (2010)- Two gunmen fired at a tourist bus, near Gate 3, of the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi on September 19.

Varanasi bombing (2010)- around 40 worshippers were injured during the blasts that occured in the holy city of Varanasi on December 7.

Mumbai serial blasts (2011)- three blasts rocked key locations in Mumbai on July 13. The blasts occurred at the Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar, and Dadar, where 26 were killed and 130 were injured.

Despite its links to LeT and alleged help from Pakistan and the underworld for finances and logistics, it’s predominantly an Indian terror group.

How are they financed?

How does the homegrown terror outfit that is supposed to be rolling in money, according to Indian intelligence, raise its capital? According to reports, the finance is generally raised through arms smuggling, fake currency, hawala transactions, extortions and third party funding by other countries looking to attack India. The raised money is securely stashed away in India, Sharjah and Saudi Arabia, among many other places. Sometimes, money is openly collected as 'charity' and used for such negative purposes.