The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has now arrested a total of 12 people in connection with the car explosion that occurred last year in the vicinity of the Sangameswarar temple in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Jameesha Mubin (29), from HMPR Street at Kottaimedu, the organizer of the attack was close friends with the 25-year-old Mohammed Idris of GM Nagar near Ukkadam in Coimbatore. The former drove a car filled with explosives in steel drums and LPG cylinders and was killed after the car bomb went off in front of the Hindu religious place at Kottaimedu on 23 October 2022, around 4 am.
According to sources, Mohammed Idris was involved in the criminal scheme that caused the automobile blast. His participation was identified by the investigators after looking at his call detail records along with the statements of other accused.
They further stated that he was called to the NIA’s temporary headquarters here on 31 July. Moreover, he was told to show up early morning the next day. The agency apprehended him and transported him to Chennai after the second round of questioning. The former is anticipated to present him to the NIA special court at Poonamalle in Chennai on 2nd August.
The organization submitted a chargesheet against six offenders in the case on 20 April including Mohammed Azharudheen, Muhammad Thalha, Firoz Ismail, Muhammed Riyas, Nawaz Ismail, and Afsar Khan. Umar Farooq, Firoz Khan, Mohammed Thoufiq, Sheikh Hidayathullah and Sanofar Ali were the subjects of a supplemental chargesheet that was filed by the agency on 2 June.
The main accused, according to the NIA, was motivated by Zahran Hashim, the perpetrator of the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, to operate an Islamic State (IS) module. Jameesha Mubin intended to plan an attack resembling the bombs on Easter Sunday. NIA officials unearthed over 75 kg of potassium nitrate, aluminium powder, sulphur and charcoal during a search at his rented house on the second floor of a building.
The opposition parties including the All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation (AIADMK) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed the blast as a failure of the state government.
2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings
Three churches in Sri Lanka and three upscale hotels in the country’s commercial city, Colombo, were the targets of a coordinated ISIS-related terrorist suicide bombing attack on 21 April 2019 on Easter Sunday. A total of 269 individuals died, including eight suicide bombers, three police officers, and at least 45 foreign nationals. 500 more people suffered injuries.
The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo and the hotels bombed included the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury, and Tropical Inn. A second round of strikes, according to the State Intelligence Service, was planned but was thwarted by government raids.
All eight of the suicide bombers involved in the attacks, according to Sri Lankan government sources, were Sri Lankan residents affiliated with the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), an Islamic terrorist group with possible foreign connections that has a history of attacking Buddhists in Sri Lanka.
