Why is this village near Mumbai a constant focal point for NIA and anti-terror raids?

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For over a decade, the name Borivali-Padgha has surfaced with unsettling regularity in news reports on subversive activities. This village in Maharashtra’s Thane district, situated 53 kilometres north of Mumbai, has become a persistent focus for India’s national security apparatus, a status underscored by a major multi-state raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) just this week.

The ED operation, targeting 40 locations, included sites in the Padgha-Borivali region. It forms part of a money-laundering investigation linked to cases filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) against Pune-based individuals with alleged connections to ISIS activities in the state, as reported by The Indian Express.

This latest action is not an isolated event. Over the past two years alone, the NIA, ED, ATS and Thane rural police have conducted multiple, coordinated searches in the area. The intense and sustained scrutiny begs the question: what places this particular village so consistently in the crosshairs?

Borivali-Padgha’s roots are deep and historically significant, tracing back to the Shilahara Dynasty. Arab traders from the 12th century established a settlement that evolved into a largely Muslim, economically self-sufficient community of landowners and timber traders. According to the 2011 Census, its 5,780 residents are 83% Muslim.

The village has a documented record of political consciousness, including participation in the Swadeshi movement. In later decades, it became a base for diverse ideological currents, from leftist activism to Islamist student mobilisation. The now-banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) once had a visible presence there, a fact later noted in intelligence assessments.

However, the village’s modern reputation was cemented during the investigations into the 2002-03 Mumbai serial blasts, which killed 15 people. Five residents were named as accused, with the police alleging that the key conspirator was Saquib Nachan, a former SIMI general secretary and the village’s most prominent figure in security files. While some were convicted on arms charges, others were acquitted of terror offences. Nevertheless, the association with extremism took hold in the public imagination.

The narrative of Borivali-Padgha is inextricably linked to the late Saquib Nachan. Born into a prominent local family, Nachan rose through the ranks of SIMI in the 1980s. Intelligence agencies alleged he later cultivated links with militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A 1992 CBI chargesheet accused him of facilitating explosives training and aiding an ISI-backed operation.

After serving a sentence under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, he returned to Padgha in 2001. He was again arrested following the 2002-03 blasts, an event that triggered a confrontation between villagers and police. Released in 2017, he lived quietly until his name resurfaced in a 2023 NIA probe into ISIS links. He died in a Delhi hospital earlier this year while in judicial custody.

Nachan’s final arrest in December 2023 marked a new chapter in the village’s scrutiny. The NIA alleged he was part of an ISIS-affiliated sleeper cell based in Pune, involved in fabricating and testing improvised explosive devices. Most strikingly, investigators claimed the group had conspired to transform his home village of Borivali-Padgha into a “liberated zone” and planned attacks to wage war against the state.

As per The Indian Express report, agencies believe the ideological networks from the SIMI era have not fully dissipated. With residents named in cases spanning from the early SIMI years to the recent ISIS probe, the area remains a priority surveillance zone.

A constant police presence and vehicle checkpoints are a feature of daily life. One local resident described the atmosphere as “a constant sense that another search may take place at any time.”