Jamesha Mubin, the 29-year-old engineering graduate who died in the car blast in Coimbatore on October 23, was motivated by the Islamic State and was engaged in preparing for jihad and constructing explosives, as per a report by The Indian Express. Mubin was on a suicide mission to destroy a large area including a Hindu temple using his car bomb, but it didn’t work as planned and only the car exploded, killing him. Initially thought as a regular accident, now it has emerged that it was a jihadi terror attack gone wrong.
Among the handwritten entries in Tamil that Tamil Nadu police found at Jamesha Mubin’s home in the Kottaimedu neighbourhood of Ukkadam were references to Muslims as “second-class citizens,” the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the hijab dispute in Karnataka, and a flow diagram with the names of Gods from various religions.
The diaries were supposedly among the literature, including books and reading materials, confiscated from Mubin’s residence, according to a source cited by The Indian Express who is aware of the evidence found during the inquiry.
Jamesha perceived Muslims as ‘second-class citizens’
“Mubin’s diary entries largely reveal his take on other religions, particularly Hinduism and Christianity. He had cited the names of the Gods of those religions and depicted them on a handwritten flowchart with arrows connecting one to another. Incidents such as CAA, the hijab row, restrictions on food, and killings over beef were mentioned as problems faced by Indian Muslims, who, he wrote, were becoming second-class citizens. He also wondered how these problems could be overcome,” the source stated.
Senior officials from the Tamil Nadu police informed The Sunday Express that their analysis has uncovered several crucial elements of the case and that they are currently in the process of officially handing the investigation over to the NIA.
Literature based on Jihad and bomb-making
According to Coimbatore City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan, who spoke to Express, Mubin’s supposed associates Azharudheen and Afsar, who are among the six people arrested in the case, admitted during interrogation that he frequently expressed his views about the alleged “oppression” faced by Muslims.
“Majority of the books and notes found in his Ukkadam home were about bomb-making, jihad, and his apparent lack of objectivity regarding other religions. According to two of the accused whom we questioned, Mubeen used to express his opinion about Indian Muslims and how they are oppressed,” Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan said. The inquiry has thus far shown, according to Coimbatore City Police Commissioner, that Mubin was self-radicalized, and that his apparently radical viewpoint came mainly from writings and the Internet, and that he lacked technical bomb-making expertise.
“On Saturday night (October 22), around 11.25 pm, after loading the gas cylinders and other materials into his car, Mubeen drove to a nearby road and parked there for few hours before he started the final journey before the blast. We believe he was on his way to a target, which is not known yet, and detonated himself outside the temple when he saw a police checkpost nearby. Azharuddin and Afsar have not revealed any details about Mubeen’s target,” the Police Commissioner further said on the blast.
Influenced by ISIS
An important piece of evidence discovered from Mubin’s home was a slate with a green frame and an ISIS insignia written on it. “So far, there is no evidence of him getting help from outside. But our questioning of others has revealed that Mubeen had high regard for Zahran Hashim (the main suicide bomber behind the Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka), a self-radicalised attacker who killed over 200 people,” stated an officer involved in the investigation.
Married hearing and speech-disabled lady
According to the officer, Mubin married a hearing and speech-disabled lady “as part of the spirit of sacrifice instilled by his faith,” and he sent his wife and two children to her house only four days before the blast. He carried the explosives into his new Maruti 800 vehicle, which he parked outside Afsar’s house, hours before the explosion. He then went back to his house at 1 AM to change.
As the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also registered its first FIR in the case, the investigation is proceeding with diligence. The NIA said in its FIR, “A search of the premises of deceased Jamiza Mubeen led to the seizure of 109 items, including potassium nitrate, black powder, nitroglycerin, PETN powder, aluminium powder, sulphur powder, sterile surgical, notebooks with details about jihad, etc.”
So far, six individuals have been arrested in the case. They are identified as, Mohammad Thalka (age 25), Mohammad Azarudheen (age 25), Mohammad Riaz (age 27), Firoz Ismail (age 27), Mohammad Nawaz Ismail (age 27) and Afsar Khan.
