ISIS Maharashtra chief, 2002-03 Mumbai blast convict Saquib Nachan dies in Delhi

Terror convict and chief of the Maharashtra ISIS module, Saquib Nachan, died at a Delhi hospital on Saturday, days after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

Nachan was not only convicted in the 2002 and 2003 Mumbai blasts case, but was also convicted of planning terror attacks in the country by aligning with Khalistani militants.

He was also an active member of banned terror outfit SIMI.

Nachan was convicted in 2016 for his role in bomb blasts in 2002-03 in Mumbai. After completing 10 years of imprisonment, he was released from prison, the official said.

He joined ISIS after being released from jail in 2017 and started recruiting people by giving them Sabath at his village Borivali in Padgha area of Maharashtra's Thane.

He also trained them to carry out terror attacks in India. He also declared his village as Al Sham (Syria) and said that it was a liberated zone which only followed the Sharia law and not the law of the country.

In 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out searches at Padgha as part of a nationwide crackdown on the terror outfit ISIS and arrested several persons, including Nachan.

During the raids, NIA officials recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, cash, and radicalisation literature from his home. It was also found that Nachan was in touch with some top handlers of ISIS in Syria.

Earlier this month, the Maharashtra ATS raided his residence and other places of his accomplices in a terror conspiracy case.

According to officials, Nachan was admitted to hospital on Tuesday, June 24, after his health deteriorated.

His condition worsened on Saturday, and he died at 12.10 pm, reported PTI, quoting an official.

His body will be handed over to his family after post-mortem, and his last rites will be performed on Sunday at Borivali village near Padgha, he said.

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With inputs from PTI