MUMBAI/DELHI – June 29, 2025:Saquib Abdul Hamid Nachan, a controversial figure long associated with extremist networks in India, passed away on Saturday at a Delhi hospital. The 67-year-old resident of Padgha, a village near Mumbai, had been in judicial custody following his arrest in December 2023 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for alleged ties to the Islamic State (ISIS).
Nachan was admitted to Delhi’s Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital after suffering a stroke on Tuesday. Due to the severity of his condition, he was transferred to Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday, where he was later pronounced dead at approximately 11:30 AM on Saturday, according to his legal counsel, Shamsher Ansari.
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Authorities report that this was not the first stroke Nachan had experienced while in custody. His legal team had filed a request in the Patiala House Courts seeking his transfer to a specialized medical facility for appropriate treatment. Ansari stated that prison authorities had informed Nachan’s family earlier in the week, prompting immediate travel to Delhi by his elder son and legal representatives.
Nachan was held at Delhi’s high-security Tihar Jail following his arrest during a coordinated NIA operation that targeted ISIS-linked individuals across Maharashtra and Karnataka. The crackdown saw simultaneous raids at 44 locations, including areas in Padgha, Kalyan, Mira Road, Pune, and Bengaluru. Authorities recovered weapons, cash, and flags allegedly affiliated with foreign militant groups such as Hamas.
An NIA investigation labeled Nachan as a central figure in radicalizing and recruiting young Muslim individuals from Maharashtra to join ISIS ideology. Officials claim he had effectively declared Padgha a “liberated zone,” where he orchestrated training sessions aimed at mobilizing youth to act against the Indian state. The agency also alleges that Nachan administered bayath — a pledge of allegiance to ISIS’s Khalifa — to new recruits within the village.
Prior to this case, Nachan had already served a decade-long prison sentence following his conviction in the 2002–2003 Mumbai railway station bombings that resulted in multiple fatalities. His connections to the now-banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) further fueled suspicions regarding his ideological leanings and operational history.
Despite his age and deteriorating health, Nachan remained a person of significant interest to counter-terror agencies, who believed he was working under the guidance of foreign handlers to aid ISIS’s expansion in India. His death brings a close to a controversial chapter but raises ongoing concerns about radical networks operating within Indian borders.