Latest news with #Nachan
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Padgha searches: ATS registers two FIRs, sends 19 mobiles for forensic analysis
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has registered two separate cases under the Arms Act following its search operation across 22 locations in Mumbai and Thane districts connected with suspected terrorist activities, which led to the recovery of swords, choppers and knives from two places. Nineteen mobile phones seized during the searches have been sent to Kalina for forensic analysis and retrieval of data, which police believe could unearth vital clues about the activities of terror suspects. The nearly 12-hour-long search operation on Monday was conducted based on information that people close to Saquib Andul Hamid Nachan, alleged chief of the ISIS module in Maharashtra who is currently in judicial custody for his alleged links with the ISIS module in Delhi, had become active again. Twenty-two persons including seven of Nachan's close relatives in Padgha – his native village in Bhiwandi taluka under Thane district – were detained during the searches and released on Monday evening after being questioned for several hours. According to sources in the ATS, those radicalised by Nachan in Padgha communicated among themselves via imo, an instant messaging and video-calling app which was banned by the central government in May 2023 based on suspicions regarding its use in terrorist activities, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. 'We are hoping that forensic analysis of the phones seized from suspects will unearth how they kept in touch and what activities they were planning,' a police officer who is part of the investigating team told Hindustan Times. The role of two persons among the 22 questioned by the ATS is especially circumspect, the officer said. 'We will interrogate them again once we get some evidence.' The ATS is also verifying if Nachan, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, passed on any messages during video calls with his family members. Prisoners are allowed to talk to their families via video calls in the presence of jail authorities and the Tihar jail manual indicates Nachan interacts with his family regularly, said ATS sources. Nachan was among 15 persons arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in December 2023 following searches at 44 locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka, which led to the seizure of weapons, cash, digital devices and Hamas flags. According to the NIA, Nachan was the self-declared leader of the arrested accused who were all members of the Maharashtra module of ISIS. He administered the 'bayath' (oath of allegiance to the Khalifa of ISIS) to people joining the proscribed organisation and motivated impressionable Muslim youth to relocate to Padgha. Nachan and his accomplices had also declared Padgha a 'liberated zone' and planned various terror activities from the village, the NIA had found.
Indian Express
03-06-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Day after ATS raids at Padgha, two FIRs lodged; no arrests yet
A day after the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) conducted raids at 22 locations at Padgha near Bhiwandi, two FIRs were registered by the probe agency under sections of the Arms Act over a chopper and sword seized during the raids. The agency did not give the names of the accused against whom the FIRs have been registered. An officer said they have seized 19 mobile phones during the raids, which have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina for data extraction. The officer said they had received information that while Saquib Nachan, who as per the NIA is the head of the Maharashtra module of ISIS, was lodged in Tihar jail and his son Shamil at Taloja prison since 2023, some Padgha locals, including some of Nachan's relatives, had 'become active again and were carrying out anti-national activities'. It was based on this information that the ATS, along with Thane (rural) police, conducted raids at 22 houses in the area. 'The main information will come from the 19 mobile phones that have been seized. We suspect some of the data was deleted, hence all these phones have been sent for forensic extraction that will reveal all the content. This will give us clarity on whether anything anti-national was brewing there,' the officer said. Nachan, who is a resident of Boriwali in Padgha, was arrested along with his son in 2023 by the NIA for allegedly delivering provocative speeches aimed at inciting anti-national sentiments, brainwashing people and recruiting them in terrorist groups. After receiving specific intelligence, warrants were duly secured from the court and the raids were conducted at nearly two-dozen places, including the home of Nachan's elder brother Aquib. The raids, which began around 4 am Monday and continued until the afternoon, were carried out by over 250 police personnel, including 20 ATS teams. The ATS claimed several suspicious articles were recovered, including SIM cards, mobile handsets, lethal weapons, including swords and knives, suspicious property-related documents and printed material allegedly meant for radicalising and brainwashing youth.
Deccan Herald
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Convicted twice, Saquib Nachan back in focus again after Maharashtra ATS raids his home
Nachan's name came up again after the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police along with the Thane Rural police raided Nachan's home in Borivali-Padgha on Monday - an important development in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on tourists and Operation Sindoor.
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Maha ISIS module: ATS searches 22 places in Borivali, Padgha villages
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday subjected over 20 people linked with suspected terrorist activities to detailed questioning after conducting searches at 22 places in Mumbai and Thane districts. Those detained for questioning and released later included seven close relatives of Saquib Abdul Hamid Nachan, 63, who was convicted for his role in the 2002-03 serial blasts in Mumbai and is currently in judicial custody for his alleged links with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 'Around 100 police personnel from Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai units of the ATS conducted searches at 22 places, in teams of four-five policemen,' said a senior police officer. The searches were initiated based on specific information that people indoctrinated by Nachan had become active, and warrants had been obtained from the court to search premises related to them, the officer said. The searches commenced late at night on Sunday and continued till Monday afternoon. Apart from Saquib Nachan, searches were conducted at the premises of his close relatives Aaquib Saquib Nachan, Abdul Latif Kaskar, Kaif Nachan and Shajil Nachan. The ATS also searched the residence of Hasib Mulla, who had been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with Saquib Nachan in December 2023 for their suspected links with ISIS. Around two dozen suspects including seven of Nachan's close relatives were detained for questioning after swords, knives and documents promoting terrorism were found in their homes. Nachan and Mulla were among 15 persons arrested by the NIA on December 9, 2023, following searches at 44 locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka in a joint operation with the ATS. The federal agency had claimed that they had found weapons, cash, digital devices and Hamas flags during the searches carried out in Padgha, Thane, Kalyan, Mira Road and Pune and in some places in Bengaluru. The accused, the agency had said, were operating on directions of their foreign handlers and had been actively involved in various terrorist activities, including fabrication of improvised explosive devices, for furthering the violent and destructive agenda of ISIS. The searches had led to the recovery of huge caches of unaccounted cash, firearms, sharp edged weapons, documents, smart phones and other digital devices. The seizures included one pistol, two air guns, eight swords/ knives, two laptops, six hard disks, three compact discs, 38 mobile phones, 10 magazine books, ₹68.03 lakh in cash and 51 Hamas flags. The NIA's probe had revealed that the accused, all members of the ISIS Maharashtra module, were operating from Padgha-Borivali, where they had hatched the conspiracy to spread terror and violence across India. Nachan and other arrested accused had declared the village of Padgha a 'liberated zone' and were motivating impressionable Muslim youth to relocate to the village in rural Thane, the NIA had found. Nachan, the federal agency had claimed, was the main accused and the self-declared leader of the arrested group and he had assumed the rights of administering 'bayath' (oath of allegiance to the Khalifa of ISIS) to people joining the proscribed organisation.
India Today
02-06-2025
- India Today
2002 Mumbai blasts convict's house raided by cops over terror plot suspicions
In a joint operation, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Thane Rural Police on Monday raided the properties of convicted terrorist Saquib Abdul Hamid Nachan and his associate in Padgha extensive search targeted 20 locations, including the residence of Nachan, a former member of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who was convicted of planning terror attacks across India in 1997 and for his involvement in two bomb blasts in Mumbai in 2002 and launched the operation following intelligence inputs that Nachan and his close associates were inciting local residents through provocative speeches and allegedly attempting to revive anti-national activities. Police also suspect the group was hatching a larger conspiracy, potentially including an assassination plot. Acting on this intelligence, the ATS obtained a court warrant and, with support from Thane Rural Police, launched coordinated raids in the Padgha area starting at 2.30 am on Monday. The operation continued well past 3.00 pm and involved the deployment of nearly 300 the search, officials seized mobile phones, swords, axes, suspicious property documents, and other objectionable materials suspected of promoting terrorism and radicalisation. Mobile phones belonging to Nachan's relatives and associates were also confiscated for forensic crackdown comes in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which has intensified concerns over domestic networks allegedly sheltering or aiding anti-national IS SAQUIB NACHAN?advertisementSaquib Nachan is a key figure in several past terror cases. He was an active member of SIMI, which has been banned by the Indian government since 2019 under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) was convicted in connection with terror attacks across India in 1997, and the 2002 and 2003 Mumbai bomb blasts, before being released in 2017 after serving his he is reported to have joined ISIS and headed the Maharashtra ISIS module. He gave "Bayath" (oath of allegiance) to those who joined his terror module and declared Borivali village as "Al Sham" - a liberated December 2023, Nachan, his son Shamil, and 14 others were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). A large cache of arms, ammunition, sharp weapons, and significant amounts of cash were seized during those village has increasingly become a terror hotspot, with several previous arrests under various terror modules. The ATS has now initiated the process of registering a formal case, and further investigations are ongoing.
