ED Seizes ₹9.7 Crore, Freezes 25 Accounts in ISIS-Linked Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized movable assets worth ₹9.70 crore, including ₹3.7 crore in cash and gold jewellery and bullion valued at ₹6 crore, during extensive search operations carried out across 40 locations in several states. These operations are part of a money-laundering investigation linked to a highly radicalised terror module affiliated with the banned Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

During the financial analysis, it was revealed that individuals linked to the Borivali-Padgha ISIS module were allegedly involved in the illegal cutting and smuggling of Khair (Acacia Katechu) trees from the reserve forest areas of the Padgha-Borivali region. The Khair wood, suspected to have been obtained illegally, was found during the search operations, and relevant officials from the jurisdictional Forest Department were informed by the ED. Details related to alleged illegal hawala operations were also discovered.

The searches, conducted by the ED’s Mumbai unit, covered multiple locations in the Padgha–Borivali belt of rural Thane, as well as premises in Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi, Kolkata (West Bengal), Hazaribagh (Jharkhand), and Daman (Union Territory of Daman and Diu). In addition to the seizures, the agency froze 25 bank accounts belonging to accused persons and suspects to choke the alleged proceeds of crime and financial channels used by the network.

The ED also recovered documents, digital devices, and literature allegedly promoting radicalisation, along with records related to several immovable properties linked to the accused and other suspects under scrutiny. The money laundering probe stems from a November 2023 case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against an alleged ISIS-linked module.

The NIA had charge-sheeted 21 persons, including Saquib Nachan, described by investigators as a self-styled ISIS chief (Amir-e-Hind), who died in June after suffering a brain haemorrhage while lodged at Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Nachan, previously convicted in connection with the 2002–03 Mumbai blasts, had been arrested by the NIA in December 2023 along with 14 other alleged operatives. The agency received intelligence inputs from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) indicating that individuals associated with the ISIS-linked module were involved in illegal activities, particularly the trafficking of khair wood, with proceeds suspected to have been diverted to support extremist operations.

Financial analysis further revealed monetary linkages between the accused and several other individuals, prompting searches at premises belonging to close associates, family members, and entities reflecting suspicious transactions. The NIA has alleged that the accused were part of a highly radicalised module engaged in recruitment, training, procurement of weapons and explosives, and fundraising to sustain terror activities. The case has been registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Explosives Substances Act.

The NIA has also claimed that some accused had declared Padgha a 'liberated zone' and referred to it as 'Al Sham', an Arabic term for the historic region of Greater Syria, allegedly attempting to persuade impressionable Muslim youth to relocate there to strengthen the base. The agency had taken over the investigation from the Delhi Police Special Cell.