THOOTHUKUDI: Responding to Governor RN Ravi’s adverse remarks against the Tamil Nadu government in handling the Coimbatore blast case, Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Friday told reporters in Thoothukudi that Tamil Nadu police have been carrying out the probe in coordination with National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials from the beginning and the agencies were collectively reviewing the investigation until the case was taken over by the NIA. There were no lapses, he said.
Governor Ravi, while addressing a private event in Coimbatore on Friday, expressed serious concern over the delay of four days in handing over the case to the NIA and charged the State government with tampering of crucial evidence in the terror plot.
Thennarasu said police personnel patrolling nearby had reached the spot within a few minutes of the blast and collected evidence. Police Commissioner Balakrishnan too inspected the spot and intimated Director General of Police Sylendra Babu immediately. Investigation started within hours on the same day, the minister said.
The DGP along with top officials camped in the region on the same day. Sleuths from the central Intelligence Bureau (IB) and state intelligence department were present at the spot before top police officers reached the area, Thennarasu said. Police identified the deceased as Jameza Mubeen (25) and searched his house within 24 hours. The TN police suspected terror angle after finding suspicious materials at the house of the deceased and arrested the aides of Mubeen.
Tamil Nadu police have always been appreciated for cooperating with central investigation agencies in any probe, Thennarasu said. The FIR was altered by invoking Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on October 25 and on the same evening NIA officials reviewed the progress of the investigation with the DIG and Commissioner of the Coimbatore Police Commissionerate.
The suspects were questioned by NIA officials, central intelligence and State police together on Wednesday, October 26. As State police obtained vital inputs suspecting terror angle, the case was shifted to NIA following a consultation meeting chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin.
While State police register FIR based on preliminary investigation, the NIA can directly take up cases for investigation if it suspects terror angle. All information and evidences were shared with central agencies, the minister said. Thennarasu went on to divulge that the deceased accused Jameza Mubeen was under NIA custody in 2019 and it is still unknown on what grounds he was released. "It is best known only to then NIA officials," he pointed out.
The CM was directly monitoring the investigation since Day 1 and ensured normalcy during Deepavali festival, he said. Thennarasu also went on to give a comparative account of similar cases investigated by the NIA across the country --- including the Delhi court complex bomb blast case of December 23, 2021 --- where the agency had taken between one week and three months to file an FIR.
The CM will not allow any such terror attacks in Tamil Nadu as he functions with the motto ‘determination ever, deviation never’, the minister said.