In a major crackdown on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested 15 alleged operatives of the banned organisation during simultaneous raids at 44 locations across Maharashtra and Karnataka.
“Pursuing the path of violent Jihad, Khilafat, ISIS etc., the accused had aimed to disturb the peace and communal harmony of the country and to wage a war against the Government of India... The arrested accused had self-declared the village of Padgha in rural Thane as a ‘liberated zone’ and as ‘Al Sham’. They were motivating impressionable Muslim youth to relocate in Padgha from their place of residence for strengthening the Padgha base,” the NIA said in a statement.
Based on the inputs, the NIA teams swooped down on the premises linked to suspects in Padgha-Borivali, Thane, Mira Road, Pune, and Bengaluru early on Saturday morning, and arrested the accused persons for promoting terror-related acts.
Maharashtra terror module
‘Huge amounts of unaccounted cash, firearms, sharp edged weapons, incriminating documents, smart phones and other digital devices were seized during the raids, conducted as part of NIA’s ongoing efforts to disrupt and demolish the attempts of ISIS to carry out violent acts of terror and take innocent lives,” the agency said. The seizures included a pistol, two air-guns, eight swords or knives, over ₹68 lakh in cash, and 51 Hamas flags.
The accused, operating on the directions of their foreign handlers, had been actively involved in various terrorist activities, including the fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices, for furthering the violent and destructive agenda of ISIS, the NIA added.
The NIA investigations have purportedly revealed that the accused, all members of the ISIS Maharashtra module, were operating from Padgha-Borivali, where they had hatched a conspiracy to carry out acts of violence across India.
Saquib Nachan, the main accused and the head of the ISIS module, was also administering a “bayath (oath of allegiance to the Khalifa of ISIS)“ to the persons joining the proscribed organisation, it said.
The others arrested, all from Thane, are: Hasib Zuber Mulla, Kashif Balere, Saif Nachan, Rehan Suse, Shagaf Divkar, Firoz Kuwari, Adil Khot, Musab Mulla, Rafil Nachan, Yahya Khot, Razil Nachan, Farhan Suse, Mukhlis Nachan, and Munzir Kunnathpeedikal.
Terror network
The banned terrorist outfit is also known as Islamic State, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, Daish, Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISIS Wilayat Khorasan, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham Khorasan.
In the past few months, the NIA has conducted large-scale raids and busted various ISIS modules by arresting several alleged operatives in a bid to scuttle the organisation’s agenda.
“As part of its efforts towards that end, the agency had registered a case against the ISIS Maharashtra module earlier this year and has, since then, undertaken strong and concerted actions to destroy the various ISIS modules and networks operating across the country,” it added.
The case was previously being probed by the Delhi Police Special Cell, following the arrest of three alleged ISIS terrorists — Shahnawaz Alam, Mohammad Rizwan Ashraf, and Mohammad Arshad Warsi.
Targeting Afghanistan
Earlier this month, the NIA had charge sheeted five persons allegedly associated with the Afghanistan-based Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP). “The ISKP, a sister organisation of ISIS, is active in the Khorasan province of Afghanistan and is behind a meticulously planned conspiracy to promote terror and violence in the troubled nation,” the agency had said.
Among those charge sheeted were Ubaid Nasir Mir, Hanan Hayat Shawl, Mohammed Hazim Shah, Sumera Banu, and Zubair. They allegedly planned to go to Afghanistan illegally via Iran from Gujarat’s Porbandar, for training and to carry out terrorist acts there. However, they were arrested by the Anti-Terror Squad (Gujarat).
Apart from recruiting, the accused were also collecting funds for the banned terror organisation. Two other accused in the case, based in Afghanistan and Iran, are currently absconding.
