Saquib Nachan, head of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) India operations and former office-bearer of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), died in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital Saturday afternoon after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was 57.
Nachan had been in judicial custody at Tihar Jail since 2023 following his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with an alleged ISIS terror module spanning Delhi and Maharashtra’s Padgha region. He was hospitalised on Tuesday after his health deteriorated in custody.
Doctors confirmed a brain haemorrhage shortly after admission. He remained under medical observation for four days before his condition worsened this morning. He was pronounced dead at 12:10 pm, according to hospital officials.
Saquib Abdul Hameed Nachan belonged to Padgha town in Maharashtra’s Thane district. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he rose as a senior figure in SIMI, an organisation banned in 2001 for anti-national activities.
