COIMBATORE: Three suspects arrested by Coimbatore City Police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on Saturday for alleged involvement in an IS module in Coimbatore had been planning suicide attacks in the city, according to the First Information Report (FIR) registered against them.
Following searches by National Investigation Agency (NIA), Coimbatore police had raided houses of Y Sheik Shafi Ullah (35) of Karumbukadai, A Mohammed Hussain (25) of Ukkadam and A Shajhakhan (25) of Anbu Nagar in Coimbatore on Thursday. All three were then booked under various sections of UAPA. Police said their involvement in an IS module had been confirmed.
According to the FIR, the three had frequently discussed killing atheists using deadly weapons and executing suicide attacks using trucks. Sources claimed that they had gained contacts with foreigners to execute the terror attack in Coimbatore.
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“The three had praised the Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and supported the Sri Lankan terror attack and shared war videos taken from Iraq and Syria during their meeting at an electronic shop owned by one of their relatives. During the meeting, they propagated themselves as IS members and agreed to be in frequent contact with the organisation,” claimed the FIR.
“They shared PDF documents related to IS caliphate (leader) Khawarij and Hijrah (Islamic term of migration) to plan their suicide attacks. Also, they planned to kill the police intelligence (officers) for reportedly spreading fear among the public,” the FIR added.
Senior police officials said that a few more persons might be arrested at the end of the probe.
The three men had been detained for two days and were arrested on Saturday morning. They were produced before Principal District Judge R Sakthivel who ordered they be lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison under judicial custody till June 28. Suspects are required to be produced before a court within 24 hours of being detained.
IS They called themselves IS members & agreed to be in contact with the group, the FIR said.