NIA busts ISIS module in MP, 3 held during raids at 13 locations in Jabalpur

The NIA has seized sharp-edged weapons, ammunition, incriminating documents and digital devices during its crackdown on an ISIS module in Jabalpur, MP.

Published on: May 27, 2023, 15:10:18 IST

By Shishir Gupta

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The National Investigation Agency on Saturday busted an ISIS-linked terror module in an intelligence-led joint operation with the Anti Terror Squad (ATS) of Madhya Pradesh Police, arresting three persons from Jabalpur.

On May 24, the NIA had registered a case during its probe into the alleged pro-ISIS activities of Mohammad Adil Khan who had come under the agency's lens in August last year. (Representational image)

The arrests took place during overnight raids by the NIA at 13 locations in Jabalpur on May 26 and 27. The arrested trio Syed Mamoor Ali, Mohammad Adil Khan and Mohammad Shahid will be produced in the NIA special court in Bhopal. The central agency has seized sharp-edged weapons, ammunition (including prohibited bore), incriminating documents and digital devices.

On May 24, the NIA had registered a case during its probe into the alleged pro-ISIS activities of Mohammad Adil Khan who had come under the agency's lens in August last year. He and his associates are accused of being involved in disseminating ISIS propaganda through social media platforms, as well as through on-ground ‘Dawah’ programmes.

The activities were carried out with an intention to unleash violent terror attacks in India for the ISIS. The module had been conducting meetings/Dars in local Masjids and houses and hatching plans and conspiracies to spread terror in the country, the agency said in a statement.

The probe revealed that the three accused were highly radicalised and were determined to carry out violent jihad activities. They were engaged in collecting funds, disseminating ISIS propaganda material, motivating and recruiting youth, and trying to procure arms and ammunition with the objective of carrying out terrorist acts.

According to NIA, Syed Mamoor Ali had created a local group by the name of ‘Fisbilillah’ and was also operating a WhatsApp group by the same name. Along with his associates, he was trying to procure pistols and was in contact with a Jabalpur-based illegal arms supplier for this purpose.

A staunch ISIS follower and supporter, Adil had managed to assemble an active group of Jabalpur-based like-minded radicalised individuals. Some of the module members were already contemplating Hijrat (flight) to conflict theatres, while others had plans to form a local outfit for carrying out violent jihad in India, the NIA stated.

Adil was also running multiple YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp channels for motivating and recruiting youth into the ISIS fold. Investigations further showed that Shahid had also planned to procure weapons including pistols, IEDs and even grenades for violent attacks in India.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

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