Searches were conducted at Padgha-Borivali region near Mumbai and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Delhi, Kolkata, and Uttar Pradesh
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (December 11, 2025) searched about 40 locations across multiple States in connection with a case involving an ISIS-linked module under probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The searches covered the premises of the accused, their close associates and family members, and entities with financial links or suspicious monetary transactions with them. They included the Padgha-Borivali region near Mumbai and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Delhi, Kolkata, and Uttar Pradesh.
The charge sheets filed by the NIA in its case, based on which the ED is investigating the alleged money-laundering angle, revealed that the accused were part of a “highly radicalised ISIS-linked module” and were engaged in recruitment, training, procurement of weapons and explosives, and raising funds to sustain the group’s operations.
“Intelligence inputs were also received from ATS (Anti-Terror Squad), Mumbai, revealing illegal cutting, smuggling, and sale of khair (Kaith) wood, with the proceeds suspected to be used for supporting extremist activities,” said an official. In October 2024, the ATS had arrested five people for alleged involvement in khair wood smuggling with terror links.
