NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches at multiple locations in three states as part of a money-laundering investigation linked to alleged terror funding for the ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car explosion case of 2022, officials said.
A total of 16 premises in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Mumbai were raided since early morning, they said.
The central agency has booked a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), taking cognisance of multiple FIRs registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the suicide bomb explosion in 2022 near the Sangameshwarar temple in Coimbatore.
The ED said the attack was carried out by Jamesha Mubeen (suicide bomber) and others as an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack using a modified car loaded with explosives.
The accused, the ED said, funded their alleged terror activities via two methods --running a fake Covid-19 vaccine certificate programme during the pandemic, and from fraudulent investments (donations) in the Kovai Arabic College in Coimbatore, which was "deeply involved" in the radicalisation of youths.
The Covid-19 funds were generated from people who wanted fake vaccine certificates without actual vaccination, according to the ED.
The probe found that a dozen accused persons in the case, including Jamesha Mubeen, attended sessions of Kovai Arabic College through online or offline modes.
They were mentored by a person named Jameel Basha, promoter of Kovai Arabic College, after which they got indoctrinated in Salafi-Jihadi ideology and conspired to commit the terror attack in support of the proscribed terror organisation ISIS, according to the agency.
Mubeen was killed in the blast that occurred on October 23, 2022, near the Sangameswarar temple at Kottaimedu in Coimbatore.