In Coimbatore blast case, foreign funding and links not ruled out

The incident does not look like some one-off module that set out to carry out a terror attack. It has all the makings of a module that has been funded through various sources.

New Delhi, Nov 01: With the National Investigation Agency set to take the Coimbatore blast suspects into custody, a close watch is being kept on the funding that was received by Jamesha Mubin.

Mubin was killed in the blast outside a temple in Coimbatore and it is being suspected that it was a case of suicide bombing. While the initial findings suggested that Mubin was self-radicalised, the NIA would look into the larger conspiracy considering the amount of money that was spent on procuring such a huge quantity of explosives.

Officials tell OneIndia that this does not look like it was some one-off module that set out to carry out a terror attack. It has all the makings of a module that has been funded through various sources.

The NIA would be taking into custody Mohammed Thalka, Mohammed Azarudeen, Mohammed Riyaz, Feroz Ismail, Mohammed Nawaz Ismail and Afsar Khan. Their questioning would be crucial for further leads into the case. The fact that Thalka is the nephew of S A Basha, the mastermind of the 1998 Coimbatore blast, is also a crucial lead that the probe agencies would look into.

Mubin, now deceased, and the rest of the arrested accused are part of a state Intelligence Bureau list of 96 who have been under watch for long. Mubin, it may be recalled had been questioned by the NIA in 2019 following the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka due to his alleged links with the mastermind Zahran Hashmi.

The NIA would also be looking into the foreign connections of these accused persons. It is suspected that Feroz Ismail has foreign links and whether there is any connection to the current case would be explored in detail, the official cited above also said.

An early morning cylinder explosion in the car at the communally sensitive Ukkadam area had sent shock waves here and across the state, with Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi describing it as an attempt to unleash terror act.

The police, as part of its probe earlier, had recovered 75 kg of low intensity explosive material that goes into the making of country bombs, even as six persons have been arrested so far in connection with the explosion.

On Sunday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officially commenced the probe into a cylinder explosion in car in which one person was killed in front of a temple in the city on October 23.

Led by NIA SP, Srijith, a team of NIA officials went to the spot and inspected the area in the vicinity of the temple and to collect further evidence, police said. They inquired about the incident with the priest of the Kottai Eswaran Temple, Sundareshan, police said. The team has plans to visit the house of Jamesha Mubin, the victim of the explosion, a few metres away from the spot. The City Police who have investigated the case have handed over to NIA all the evidence and documents with regard to the explosion on Saturday, days after the Tamil Nadu government decided to hand over the probe to the premier investigation agency that probes terror-related matters.

An office space has been allotted to NIA on the premises of Armed Reserve at the Police Recruits School on Avanashi Road temporarily.