Saqib Abdul Nachan, former office bearer of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and head of the Islamic State (ISIS) operations in India, has died at the age of 67. He passed away at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi following a cerebral hemorrhage. Nachan had been in judicial custody at Tihar Jail since 2023 after his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his role in forming an ISIS terror module in Delhi and Padga, Maharashtra.
Nachan was moved to the hospital after his health deteriorated while in judicial custody. Doctors confirmed that he had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Despite being under observation for four days, his condition worsened and he died at 12.10 pm yesterday.
A resident of Padga town in Thane district, Nachan was a notorious leader of the banned Islamic extremist group SIMI during the late 1990s and early 2000s. His name gained nationwide infamy following the investigation into a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai in 2002 and 2003, which killed 13 innocent people and injured over a hundred others at Mumbai Central, Vile Parle, and Mulund stations. Nachan was convicted in these cases for illegal possession of weapons, including an AK-56 rifle. A special POTA court sentenced him to 10 years in prison, and he was released in 2017.
In December 2023, Nachan was arrested again by the NIA for masterminding the Delhi-Padga ISIS Islamic terror module, aimed at recruiting youth to ISIS. He was lodged in Tihar Jail along with 15 others arrested during the NIA’s nationwide crackdown on ISIS. The group was operating on the instructions of foreign handlers and was involved in multiple terror activities, including the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to advance ISIS’ agenda.
Nachan had declared Padga village a ‘liberated zone’ and was instrumental in attracting young Muslims to the area. As per the NIA, Nachan assumed administrative authority over the group and administered ‘bayath’, the oath of allegiance to the ISIS Khalifa, to new recruits. He remained the central figure in the ISIS-linked activities until his death.
