How did Saquib Nachan die? Former SIMI operative who headed ISIS India dead

Saquib Abdul Hamid Nachan, who led the so-called ISIS India terror module, died in Delhi on Saturday. The terrorist, who had been serving time in Tihar jail, died after suffering a brain haemorrhage, according to sources.

Nachan was brought to Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday after his health condition worsened. He was on ventilator support ever since.

Doctors said his condition deteriorated on Saturday and he was declared dead at 12.10 pm. The body will be handed over to his family after autopsy. He reportedly suffered two brain strokes in 2021 and 2023 with the second one shortly before his arrested by the NIA.

He along with 15 other alleged Islamic State members were nabbed from Padgha during a crackdown. Nachan was remanded in judicial custody since December 9, 2023 after the NIA arrested him over links with an ISIS terror module with presence in Delhi and Mumbai. He and his accomplices were in touch with foreign handlers and declared Padgha village a "liberated zone", urging radicalised youth to join them. They also reportedly manufactured and tested IEDs to be used for future terror attacks.

Born into a Konkani Muslim family in Borivali Padgha, just a little over 50 km north of Mumbai, the commerce graduate joined Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. In the 1980s, he joined its student wing Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), later becoming its Maharashtra state president and national general secretary. SIMI was proscribed as a terror outfit in 2001 over anti-national activities.

The man travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan where he established contact with extremist elements. A CBI chargesheet in 1992 accused him of training Indian Muslim and Sikh youth in guerilla warfare and helping ISI with Operation K2. The same year, he was arrested under TADA Act in Ahmedabad.

Though sentenced to life, his term was commuted by the Supreme Court to 10 years. He was released in 2001 but he was under watch over his involvement in the Mumbai serial bomb blasts in 2002-03. These attacks carried out in Mumbai Central, Mulund and Vile Parle stations killed 13 people and wounded more than 100 others.

He was arrested in 2003 after a recovered diary established his links with three terrorists. Following this he surrendered and allegedly confessed to organising the blasts. However, he was discharged in the blast case. But later he was convicted over possession of illegal arms, including an AK-56. He was released eventually released in 2017. In 2023, he was again arrested, this time by NIA for promoting ISIS-linked terror activities.

India