In a chilling probe, the Maharashtra ATS busted an alleged sleeper cell involved in suspicious terrorist activities, including a plot to establish parallel governance. ATS conducted search operations at 22 locations in Thane, and the sleeper cell was thwarted in Padgha, Borivali. Officials said early findings suggest the group was planning harmful activities under the excuse of setting up a separate religious-based government. The raids, which began around 4 am Monday and continued until the afternoon, were carried out by over 250 police personnel, including 20 ATS teams.
About The Plot
News reports suggest the investigation started after the team got specific inputs about the family of Saquib Nachan, a former office-bearer of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and a prime accused in the ISIS Maharashtra terror module case. He was arrested in 2023 for this terror module case. Nachan, with his family members, associates, close friends and several new recruits, were supposed to be a part of the emerging plots planned by the team, including a parallel government.
Parallel Government With ’15 Ministers’
A report by Free Press Journal quoting a senior ATS official said, “We have evidence suggesting that the group had divided responsibilities among various individuals, assigning them ministerial-style positions to make their village an independent state. Their goal was to establish a parallel governance structure guided by their interpretation of Sharia law.”
Reports suggest that around 15 local youths were recruited and assigned specific roles to manage a secret setup they called the ‘Shariyat-e-Al-Sham’ administration. This setup functioned like a separate government that did not recognise or follow the Indian Constitution. It operated entirely on its own, independent of any official authority. There are also reports where the members have given inflammatory speeches stating that members of the radical group, including a close associate of Nachan’s family, reportedly declared that the Padgha region does not belong to India.
Who Is Saquib Nachan?
Nachan has been involved in more than a dozen terror-related cases and has been under the watch of security agencies since the 1990s. In 1997, the Supreme Court convicted him for planning terror attacks in the early 1990s along with Khalistani terrorists. Later, in 2016, he was again convicted by a Mumbai court and sentenced to 10 years under the Arms Act for his role in the 2002-03 Mumbai blasts. He served both sentences and was released in 2017.
The NIA (National Investigation Agency) had raided Padgha and other places in Maharashtra in December 2023. During these raids, they arrested 15 people. The NIA had earlier said that Nachan was leading the ISIS group in Maharashtra and was planning violent and dangerous activities in India. During the raids, they found large amounts of cash without any records, guns, knives, important documents, smartphones, and other digital devices.
