Maharashtra ATS conducts searches in Thane in terror case; 12 detained

Maharashtra ATS conducts searches in Thane in terror case; 12 detained

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Monday detained 12 persons after conducting searches in Thane district, including at the houses of some former office-bearers and members of SIMI, in connection with a terrorism-related case, officials said.

The Mumbai unit of the ATS, with the assistance of the Thane rural police, started searches around 4 am at Padgha and Borivali village in the district adjoining Mumbai, an official said without giving the case details.

Heavy security was deployed in the two villages, he said.

The ATS sleuths searched almost two dozen houses and the premises of former office-bearers and members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), including Saquib Nachan, Aaquib Saquib Nachan, Abdul Latif Kaskar, Kaif Nachan and Shajil Nachan, he said.

Farak Zubair Mulla (60), a land broker and former member of SIMI, was also among those whose houses were searched, the official said.

It came to light that he had gone on Hajj in Saudi Arabia. His elder brother, Hasib Zubair Mulla, was accused in the 2002 and 2003 Mumbai train bomb blast cases.

Hasib served a 10-year sentence, and since December 9, 2023, he has been behind bars with Saquib Nachan at a prison in Delhi in an ISIS module case, the official said.

Abdul Latif Kaskar (27), whose house was also searched, works in a godown. He is a close friend of Farhan Suse, who was detained by security agencies in an ISIS module case in Delhi.

During the searches, six persons were not available at their residences, the official said.

The raids were on till the afternoon and the questioning of suspects went on for several hours, he said.

The ATS later took the suspects to Padgha police station where 12 persons were detained for further interrogation, he said without identifying them.

"We have identified certain individuals, and searches are going on accordingly," the official earlier said.

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