NIA Arrests 15 ISIS Operatives Including Module Leader In Maharashtra, Karnataka Raids

The accused were actively involved in various terrorist activities, including the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, in order to further ISIS's violent and destructive agenda, NIA said.

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In a massive crackdown on the ISIS terrorist organisation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested 15 of its operatives on Saturday across Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to an official. The arrested suspects included the leader of an ISIS module who was administering the 'bayath' (oath of allegiance) to recruits, an official statement issued by the federal anti-terror agency said.

NIA Swoops Down on 44 Locations in M’Rashtra & K’Nataka, Arrests 15 ISIS Operatives of ISIS Maharashtra Module pic.twitter.com/bcvJBOIA3M

— NIA India (@NIA_India) December 9, 2023

Several NIA teams swooped down on as many as 44 locations in Maharashtra, including Padgha-Borivali, Thane, Mira Road, and Pune, and Karnataka, including Bengaluru, early Saturday morning, and apprehended the 15 accused for allegedly promoting terror and terror-related acts and activities of the proscribed organisation, according to the statement.

The raids seized large amounts of unaccounted cash, firearms, sharp-edged weapons, incriminating documents, smart phones, and other digital devices as part of the NIA's ongoing efforts to disrupt and demolish the attempts of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as the Islamic State, to carry out violent acts of terror and take innocent lives, the statement said.

According to the statement, the accused were actively involved in various terrorist activities, including the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, in order to further ISIS's violent and destructive agenda.

"The investigations revealed that the accused, all members of the ISIS Maharashtra module, were operating from Padgha-Borivali, where they plotted to spread terror and commit acts of violence across India. Pursuing the path of violent jihad (holy war), 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," a the statement said.

According to the statement, preliminary investigations revealed that the arrested accused had declared the village of Padgha in rural Thane a "liberated zone" and "Al Sham".

They were encouraging impressionable Muslim youths to relocate from their current location in order to strengthen the Padgha base, the official said, as per the statement. 

According to the statement, Saqib Nachan, the main accused and the leader of the ISIS module, was also administering 'bayath' (oath of allegiance to the Khalifa of ISIS) to those joining the banned organisation.

According to the statement, ISIS has been expanding its terror network in India by establishing localised ISIS modules and cells in various states.

The agency filed a case against the ISIS Maharashtra module earlier this year and has since taken strong and coordinated actions to destroy various ISIS modules and networks operating throughout the country, according to the statement.

According to the statement, the NIA has conducted large-scale raids in recent months and busted various ISIS modules by arresting several terror operatives in the ISIS terror conspiracy case in an effort to scuttle the organisation's heinous and violent anti-India agenda.