Tamil Nadu Police Recoveries Bare Coimbatore Bomber-Jihadist Links

The National Investigation Agency will build on Tamil Nadu police’s investigations into an Islamic jihadist role in the October 23 blast in front of Sangameshwarar Temple at Ukkadam in Coimbatore.

In its First Information Report (FIR) based on Tamil Nadu Police investigations and recoveries, the agency detailed the proceeds of the searches carried out at the premises of 29-year-old radical Islamist Jameesha Mubin, who was driving the Maruti car which caught fire after explosion, leading to his death.

The Tamil Nadu Police investigations showed that Mubin was the owner of the car used in the blast ahead of Diwali.

According to Tamil Nadu Police, 109 incriminating materials were seized. The recovered materials included potassium nitrate, black powder, match box, two-metre long cracker fuse, nitro-glycerin, red phosphorus, PETN powder, aluminium powder, wire, iron nails, switch, Indane gas cylinder, gas regulator, insulation tape, packing tape, hand gloves and others. The agency has also seized notebooks with details of Islamic ideology and details about jihad.

The Centre is of the opinion that scheduled offence under NIA Act, 2008 has been committed with the act having national and international ramifications. The agency had registered an FIR on October 27 and has so far arrested six suspects in the case.

Mubin was questioned by the NIA in 2018 over the alleged terror links, and was said to be in touch with ISIS module head Mohammad Azharuddin in Coimbatore, who is currently in jail. Based on the investigations, the Indian intelligence agencies had sent three alerts to Sri Lanka about possible terror strikes in the island nation.

After the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings there, the NIA during investigations had learnt that Azharuddin and his associate Sheikh Hidayatullah were in touch with Sri Lankan bombing mastermind Maulvi Zahran bin Hashim and were planning similar strikes in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.