Police to probe suspected “terror links” in Coimbatore car blast case
All the five persons arrested in the Coimbatore car blast case were sent to 15 days' judicial custody by the Judicial Magistrate (JM2) late on Tuesday evening.
New Delhi: All the five persons arrested in the Coimbatore car blast case were sent to 15 days’ judicial custody by the Judicial Magistrate (JM2) late on Tuesday evening. The accused were produced before the JM2 judge at his residence in Coimbatore.
Addressing a press conference late evening here, Coimbatore City Commissioner V Balakrishnan said the five persons had been booked under sections 153 A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). “We have arrested five people in this matter and filed a case besides invoking UAPA,” Commissioner V Balakrishnan said adding that they are also carrying the house search and looking into the matter from the suspected “terror angle”.
As per the police, these five men– Mohammed Dhalha, Mohammed Azarudeen, Mohammed Riyas, Feroz Ismail, and Mohammed Navaz Ismail– were arrested late night on Monday after the visuals from the CCTV footage near the deceased’s house showed them purportedly taking out a gunny bag.
Notably, security was also increased in Coimbatore with Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel deployed across the city on Tuesday, following the incident in which one 25-year-old Jamesa Mubin was charred to death in a car explosion that was triggered by an LPG gas cylinder blast.
The police have deployed RAF to carry out the search and security operations across public areas like bus stands and railway stations.
During a search at Mubin’s residence in the GM Nagar area of Ukkadam, police had previously said they recovered chemicals like potassium nitrate, aluminium, and sulphur, which are used to make crude bombs. They also recovered nails and ball bearing from the spot where the explosion occurred. “We have identified the source of the cylinders and the car. This could not be a suicide attack,” state Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu said.
Regarding the aforesaid recoveries from the police, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Tuesday alleged that the police have not yet disclosed that they have recovered 50kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium, sodium, fuse wire and 7-volt batteries from Mubin’s residence.
“Police have recovered 50 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium, sodium, fuse wire and 7-volt batteries from the residence of Jamesha Mubin (who died in the incident). Police have not disclosed this yet,” Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said.
“Jamesha Mubin had posted a WhatsApp status similar to that of ISIS on October 21. Police have not said why they have arrested five people. On behalf of TN BJP, we’ve written a letter to Union Home Minister regarding this blast. Police have to accept this as a suicide attack,” he added.
K Annamalai had earlier claimed that it was a terror attack with an ISIS link and questioned the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government for state intelligence failure for the blast.
Taking to Twitter, Annamalai had said, “Coimbatore Cylinder blast is no more a ‘cylinder blast’. It’s a clear-cut terror act with ISIS links. Will CM Stalin come out in the open and accept this? TN Govt is hiding this info for 12 hours now. Is this not a clear failure of the state intelligence machinery and DMK Govt?”