NIA conducts nationwide searches in ISIS and AQIS online radicalization case
NEW DELHI July 08,2026 — The National Investigation Agency conducted extensive nationwide searches on Wednesday across multiple states in connection with an online terror radicalization case.
The ongoing investigation targets a conspiracy aimed at establishing an Islamic state in India through violent jihad by promoting the ideologies of banned terrorist organizations, including ISIS and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. In a coordinated crackdown, teams from the premier investigative agency raided a total of 20 locations spanning Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and the Union Territory of Delhi.
During the operations, agency officials seized several digital devices that will undergo detailed forensic examination to uncover further leads regarding the radicalization network.
The case, which was officially taken over by the central agency from the Vijayawada police in May this year, has so far seen the arrest of eleven accused individuals alongside one juvenile. The local police in Andhra Pradesh had originally registered the matter in March following a targeted search at the residence of a key accused, Rehmatullah Sharif Mohammad, where incriminating materials linked to both terror groups were initially recovered.
According to officials, the specific locations targeted during the latest raids were identified through comprehensive technical and connectivity analysis of previously confiscated digital devices and findings from the arrested individuals.
The investigation revealed that the accused and their associates were actively leveraging online platforms to indoctrinate vulnerable youth across the country using violent jihadi content and misinformation.
Furthermore, the agency established that the suspects maintained active online communication with foreign handlers to propagate anti-India conspiracies and further their destabilization plot.