Maharashtra Forfeits 114 Radical Publications Linked to Terror Groups
The Fadnavis government has ordered the seizure of literature tied to ISIS, ISKP and Al Qaeda, citing risks of radicalisation and lone-wolf attacks
Synopsis
The Maharashtra government has issued an order to confiscate 114 publications, magazines and digital content related to banned terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and Al Qaeda's local arm, Al Mukta. The Home Department quoted Anti-Terrorism Squad intelligence as evidence of further circulation of radicalisation material, some of which reported included instructions on how to make bombs and perpetrate lone-wolf attacks.
AdvertisementA Sweeping Order Against Extremist Literature will be issued by the PWS Department
In a gazette notification issued on August 6, the Maharashtra Home Department has ordered the seizure of 114 publications, books, documents and electronic files it alleges are linked to the Islamic State (IS/ISIS), the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) all of which are already banned under the first schedule of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The banned publications are 44 issues of the ISKP affiliated magazine Voice of Khurasan, published by Al-Azaim Media, and books like Modern Warfare, The Revolutionary Resurgence and Nawai Ghazwa-e-Hind. This order applies to related websites, encrypted channels and social media platforms that post similar content.
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Intelligence inputs, Cyber-surveillance reports and investigations by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have indicated that the material glorifying violent extremism and jihad and promoting radicalisation is continuing to circulate, possessed and transmitted," the notification read.
Some of the content included instructions on bomb-making and lone-wolf attacks, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, adding that the state's Public Security Act now had a legal framework to take action against the people spreading such material.
The government also said that the material had been referred for forfeiture as prejudicial (harmful or damaging to someone's interests, here referring to national interests) to the sovereignty, integrity and communal harmony of India by senior officers of the police and ATS as far back as March 2025.
The action is based on the powers conferred by the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the state's own security law, which enable the authorities to confiscate material associated with organizations that have been already called “unlawful”.
AdvertisementThis is different from the prohibition of a new organisation itself — the four groups listed in the notification were proscribed at the Central or State level much earlier than this order.
The overall setting of the counter-radicalisation efforts in India
The order is part of a series of state and central measures against extremist propaganda networks with a digital profile, and it is easy to see how the virtual nature of encrypted messaging and social media has made it harder to find literature to seize than to block it online.
The ATS will still continue to monitor digital transmission paths, even though the physical copies are being lost.
