On 9 November 2025, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) uncovered a disturbing terror plot that highlighted how extremist networks continue to evolve in their methods.

The ATS arrested three men, including Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed, a 35-year-old from Telangana who had completed his medical education in China. According to officials, Dr Saiyed had been researching ways to produce ricin, a banned and extremely toxic substance known internationally for its deadly impact.

Investigators say Dr Saiyed was operating under the directions of a man known as Abu Khadija, identified as a resident of Afghanistan with links to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). The ATS also reported that Dr Saiyed had been in touch with several individuals from Pakistan while gathering information and resources for the plot. During interrogation, he confessed that he had been preparing to make Ricin — which he also referred to as “Ryzin” — by collecting research materials, chemical equipment, and the raw ingredients required for the extraction process.

The ATS team led by SP K. Siddharth arrested him near the Adalaj Toll Plaza on the Ahmedabad–Mehsana Road after receiving confidential intelligence. Dr Saiyed was travelling in a silver Ford Figo car. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of two Glock pistols, one Beretta pistol, 30 live cartridges, and about 4 litres of castor oil kept in a plastic container. Castor oil is the main ingredient used for extracting ricin, making the discovery even more alarming.

A forensic examination of Dr Saiyed’s electronic devices helped the authorities identify two more individuals who were assisting him. These men were Azad Suleman Sheikh, 20, a tailor from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh, and Mohammad Suhail Mohammad Saleem Khan, 23, a student from Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. According to ATS findings, both men shared extremist beliefs and supported Dr Saiyed’s ideology. They had helped him procure weapons and were also working with him from Banaskantha in Gujarat. Investigators further revealed that they had conducted reconnaissance at several important locations across Lucknow, Delhi, and Ahmedabad, which were being examined as potential targets.

As with many similar terror cases, a Pakistan-based link has also appeared. The ATS stated that the weapons recovered were sourced from Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, and these consignments were delivered through drones sent across the Pakistan border by their handler. In total, the ATS seized three pistols, 30 cartridges, and ricin-related materials during the operation. The arrests suggest a carefully coordinated effort involving multiple states and international handlers.

Ricin, bioterror and the jihadist obsession with poisons to kill Kafirs

Ricin is a highly toxic protein extracted from the castor bean plant, known scientifically as Ricinus communis. It is important to understand that ricin is not a virus or bacterium. Rather, it is a type of plant toxin, specifically a lectin, that stops cells from producing proteins. Without protein synthesis, cells begin to break down, leading to organ failure and death. This makes ricin extremely dangerous even in very small amounts.

The process of extracting ricin involves crushing castor beans, removing the oil, and chemically treating the leftover mash to separate the ricin-rich material. While the toxin is deadly, the actual extraction does not necessarily require an advanced laboratory. Even basic setups equipped with simple glassware, gloves, and chemicals like acetone can be used to perform the process. This is one of the reasons why extremist groups consider ricin an attractive weapon — it is powerful, accessible, and does not demand sophisticated infrastructure.

The danger associated with ricin is astonishing. Experts note that a mere 500 micrograms, which is smaller than a grain of salt, can kill an adult whether it is swallowed, inhaled, or injected. The most frightening part is that there is no antidote. Once ricin enters the body, the damage is often irreversible.

Symptoms differ depending on how the toxin is introduced. If a person ingests ricin, they may experience nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhoea, stomach bleeding, and shock. If injected, the toxin can cause internal bleeding, tissue death, and rapid failure of major organs. When inhaled, ricin can severely irritate the lungs, leading to weakness, fever, lung lesions, swelling, and ultimately breathing failure. In almost all forms of exposure, death is likely within five to six days, and the suffering can be extremely painful.

Ricin is categorised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a Category B bioterrorism agent, placing it among substances that pose a serious threat to national security. It is also listed under Schedule I of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), meaning it is strictly prohibited for use except in minimal amounts for research. Over the decades, ricin has featured in several assassination and terror attempts. One of the most notorious cases was in 1978, when Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was murdered in London after an agent injected ricin into his leg using a modified umbrella. This incident became known worldwide as the “umbrella assassination.”

Jihadist organisations, in particular, have long viewed ricin as a strategic tool. Many extremists refer to it as a “poor man’s atomic bomb”, reflecting their belief that ricin offers maximum destruction at a low cost.

Al-Qaeda set up a lab to make Ricin in the early 2000s

In the early 2000s, Al-Qaeda began showing a strong interest in ricin as part of its broader strategy to carry out chemical attacks. In 2003, British authorities uncovered a ricin laboratory in London that had been set up by an Al-Qaeda–linked module. Investigators recovered 22 castor beans, laboratory equipment, and a written recipe for producing ricin. Several Algerian men were arrested in the case. One of them, Kamel Bourgass, was later sentenced to 17 years in prison for “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance by the use of poisons and/or explosives to cause disruption, fear or injury.”

In February 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell mentioned this incident during his speech at the United Nations, linking it to the global terrorist network run by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Around the same time, in Iraq’s Fallujah, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) — the group that eventually evolved into ISIS — also experimented with ricin and other toxic agents like cyanide. Meanwhile, in the United States, two ricin-laced letters were intercepted between October and November 2003. One of these letters was addressed to the White House but was stopped at a screening facility before it reached its destination.

In the same period, U.S. coalition forces captured a suspected chemical weapons site in Khurmul, northeastern Iraq, where they found traces of ricin and other toxic substances. Throughout the early 2000s, multiple chemical labs run by ISIS and its affiliated network were discovered across Iraq and Syria. Reports suggest that ISIS even accessed leftover chemical stockpiles from the Saddam Hussein era and conducted tests on prisoners using toxins, including ricin-based materials.

ISIS tested Ricin during their rule

According to findings by the United Nations, ISIS developed eight different chemical agents during its rule and tested them on both animals and human captives. These chemical agents included aluminium phosphide, botulinum toxin, chlorine, cyanide ion, nicotine, ricin, thallium sulphate, and mustard gas. ISIS weaponised these chemicals using mortars, rockets, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), all under the direct approval of the then ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Researchers studying ISIS’s chemical warfare strategy break their operations into three phases:

Phase One: June 2014 – June 2015

During this period, ISIS relied mainly on industrial chemicals like chlorine and phosphine. Their aim was to create crude IEDs capable of causing maximum casualties. ISIS’s propaganda magazines, Dabiq and Rumiyah, repeatedly urged lone-wolf jihadists to use simple chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials to carry out attacks.

Phase Two: June 2015 – January 2017

ISIS developed stronger capabilities by combining the production of sulphur mustard with delivery systems such as improvised rockets and mortar bombs. Chemical attacks took place across the caliphate — from Aleppo in Syria to Kirkuk in Iraq. In April 2016, around eight chemical attacks were recorded in a single month. Reports show ISIS conducted more than 37 chemical attacks in Syria and Iraq, including at least 20 chlorine-based attacks.

Phase Three: 2017

The last confirmed ISIS chemical attack occurred on 8 January 2017 in Syria. The fall of Mosul in July 2017 marked the end of ISIS’s organised chemical weapons programme.

Meanwhile, attempts linked to ISIS continued globally. In May 2016, Kenyan and Ugandan authorities arrested two ISIS-linked men, Ahmed Hish and Farah Dagane, who were plotting an anthrax attack. Notably, anthrax has previously been used in terror acts such as the 2001 Amerithrax case in the U.S., which injured 17 people and killed 5.

In 2017, ISIS-linked operatives in Australia were caught planning to deploy a chemical dispersal device in Sydney. One of the accused, Khaled Merhi, and his brother Mahmoud Khayat, were charged with plotting to bomb a passenger flight.

In the U.S., ricin has been linked to several plots as well. Letters laced with ricin were intercepted before reaching former Presidents Barack Obama in 2013 and Donald Trump in 2020.

In 2015, a UK-based software programmer named Mohammed Ali attempted to purchase 500 mg of ricin from the Darknet using the alias “Weirdos 0000.” He negotiated with a seller named “Psychochem” and paid in bitcoin. This amount of ricin could have killed 700 to 1400 people. Thankfully, the seller was actually an undercover FBI agent, and Ali was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison.

ISIS propaganda has encouraged both vehicular attacks and toxin-based attacks. From the 2016 Nice attack, where 86 people were killed, to the Berlin truck attack, the London Bridge attack, and the 2017 New York attack, ISIS-inspired terrorists have repeatedly used vehicles as weapons. At the same time, their ideology glorified chemical attacks. The 2018 Cologne ricin plot, orchestrated by Tunisian migrant Seif Allah H., stands out. He produced 84 mg of impure ricin and stored 3,150 castor beans. His wife Yasmin was aware of his extremist activities. He was caught before he could execute his plan.

More recently, in October 2024, 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana was charged with three murders and ten attempted murders in England. Police found a PDF titled ‘Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual’ in his possession, along with evidence suggesting he had produced ricin.

India’s crackdown on ISIS since 2014: Why the Ricin bioterror plot is a serious warning

Indian investigative agencies have been actively dismantling ISIS-linked terror modules since 2014. Their operations have exposed networks involved in radicalisation, financing, and recruitment across the country. Some major crackdowns include:

• The 2016 Kerala ISIS module,

• Investigations into India links in the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings,

• The 2022 Bihar module,

• The 2023 Pune ISIS module,

• Multiple 2025 operations involving Pune, Jammu & Kashmir, and Delhi,

• The 2024 Lashkar-e-Taiba module in Bengaluru,

• And several ISIS-linked networks busted in Delhi.

Despite these efforts, the Gujarat ATS’ discovery of a biological warfare plot marks a new level of threat. According to reports, the arrested ISIS-linked men were surveying crowded food markets and supply chains in Gujarat and other states as potential targets. Their objective was to contaminate public food supplies with ricin to cause mass casualties.

This planned use of ricin shows that India is not just facing shooters, bombers, or radical recruiters. It is now facing terrorists trained in toxicology, encryption, and modern weapon-making techniques — extremists who are backed by sophisticated global networks and driven by dangerous ideological motivations.

Such plots must not be dismissed as isolated incidents or as mere mischief by “Bhatke huye naujawan”. Instead, they reveal the scale of the threat: highly radicalised individuals seeking “Hoor-rewards,” guided by encrypted handlers, and determined to kill innocent people simply because they belong to a different faith.

Traditional weapons will always remain part of terror activities, but in today’s world of asymmetric warfare, chemical agents offer terrorists a deadly advantage. Substances like ricin or even sarin can be produced from ordinary materials found in everyday environments. Small labs, low costs, and a reduced risk of detection make bioterrorism an attractive option for lone wolves and small cells.

This means the probability of future ricin-based plots increases as its preferability rises. Ricin is silent, potent, scalable, and perfectly suited for causing mass deaths — especially of non-Muslims, who jihadist literature openly targets.