Yahya Iyash Kamkutty bridged the north-south divide when it came to activities of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India. Being employed in a well-paying job, he actively coordinated SIMI's activities in Bangalore with north Karnataka and other states. Yahya has been kept in the custody of CoD (Corps of Detectives) police till March 6 for further interrogation. A resident of Mukkam in Kerala, Kamkutty moved to Bangalore after he got selected in the campus recruitment by Tata Infotech company in 1996 at his Regional Engineering College, Calicut. In 1997, he went to Chennai for training and returned the same year. As he was an active member of SIMI, it did not take him much time to find SIMI members in Bangalore. In 1999, he quit Tata Infotech and joined GE. He was busy for some time as he had to go to the US thrice during 2000 and 2001, the year SIMI was banned.
Over a period of time, Yahya came in contact with Adnan, one of the prominent SIMI leaders in south India. Adnan, a resident of Bijapur used to stay with his brother at Annasandrapalya in Bangalore.