From online propaganda to planned blasts: How 2 youths became ISIS operatives in Delhi

They were young, educated, and lived what seemed to be ordinary lives. But behind their smartphone and laptop screens, the two men were slowly drawn into the dark web of ISIS propaganda, and eventually allegedly converted it into a plot to strike Delhi on Diwali.

The two youths — Md Adnan Khan alias Abu Muharib (19), from Delhi’s Sadiq Nagar, and Adnan Khan alias Abu Mohammad (20), from Bhopal — were arrested in a pre-emptive operation that likely averted a major tragedy, according to officials.

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The duo, described as “highly radicalised”, had allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and were working under the command of a handler operating from the Syria-Turkey border.

According to investigators, the men had been instructed to carry out a terror strike in a crowded Delhi location on Diwali, targeting a prominent mall and a public park.

Mohammad grew up in a middle-class home in Bhopal. His father, Salam Khan, works as an accountant for private firms, while his mother has done small acting roles in local productions. He attended a madrasa between the ages of 6 and 10 leading to his radicalisation and entry in the terror world, Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.

After completing Class XII, he began preparing for the chartered accountancy exams. But behind the quiet routine, investigators say, he was spending long hours online, following jihadi pages and watching ISIS propaganda videos. His radicalisation reportedly began after his madrasa years and deepened post-2020 as he engaged with extremist content.

In June 2024, Mohammad’s first brush with the law came when he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for threatening an additional sessions judge linked to the Gyanvapi Mosque case on social media. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) but was later released on bail in a few months when lesser charges were framed.

Soon after his release, he returned to extremist content online — this time more deeply involved. He connected with Muharib from Delhi, and together they began running Instagram channels and YouTube pages pushing ISIS propaganda and trying to recruit like-minded youth. Their coordination with the Syria-based handler Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi marked the next phase — the move from ideology to action.

Muharib lived what appeared to be an ordinary life. His father, Salim Khan, is a driver with Doordarshan, and his mother, Anjum Khan, is a homemaker, police said in a statement, adding that they reside in a government accommodation in Sadiq Nagar.

The youngest of four siblings, Muharib had completed Class X in his hometown of Etah, Uttar Pradesh, before the family moved to Delhi in 2022 following his father’s transfer.

Muharib, who is still a teenager, enrolled for a Diploma in Data Information Technology after struggling to continue regular studies. But what began as hours spent online learning editing tools slowly spiralled into something darker. Investigators say it was on social media and encrypted chat groups that his world changed.

By 2024, he had joined multiple online groups that circulated extremist videos and messages. Around eight months before his arrest, Muharib came in contact with Mohammad, who shared ISIS propaganda clips with him and guided him on how to edit and circulate them.

Under the digital supervision of Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi, he began producing and posting short videos glorifying the group’s ideology.

Police said he later went a step further — recording his Bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) to the ISIS Caliph, dressed in black attire, and sending the video to al-Qureshi, his foreign handler.

“Both were in constant touch and had met multiple times in Delhi to finalise their plans,” the Additional CP said, adding that swift police action prevented what could have been a devastating strike during the festival of lights.