Former SIMI office-bearer Saquib Nachan dies of brain haemorrhage in Delhi

Saquib Nachan, a former office-bearer of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), passed away at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Saturday after suffering a brain haemorrhage, an official said.

The 67-year-old, a resident of the Padgha area in Bhiwandi taluka of Maharashtra’s Thane district, had been admitted to a private hospital in the national capital for the past four days, the official added.

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Doctors confirmed that he had suffered a brain haemorrhage after his condition worsened on Saturday. He was declared dead at 12:10 p.m.

In 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had conducted searches in Padgha as part of a nationwide crackdown on the terror outfit ISIS and arrested several individuals, including Nachan.

Nachan had been in judicial custody at Tihar Jail in Delhi since 2023 after being arrested by the NIA from Padgha in connection with an ISIS terror module spread across Delhi and parts of Maharashtra.

According to the NIA, Nachan and his associates were operating under the instructions of foreign handlers.

The agency alleged that they had declared Padgha village a “liberated zone” and were influencing young Muslims to relocate there. Nachan reportedly proclaimed himself the leader of the arrested group and used to administer bay’ah (oath of allegiance to the Khalifa of ISIS) to new recruits.

He was also one of the key accused in the 2002–03 Mumbai blasts at Mumbai Central, Vile Parle, and Mulund. He was arrested in connection with those attacks and released in 2017 after serving his sentence. The NIA claimed that he later resumed involvement in terrorist activities.