COIMBATORE/CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing into the car explosion in front of a temple in Coimbatore on October 23, conducted searches at 43 places suspected to be linked to various Muslim outfits in eight districts across Tamil Nadu on Thursday.
According to a press release issued by the NIA on Thursday, Jamesha Mubeen, who killed himself in the blast, had taken bayyat or pledge with the ISIS, and was planning suicide attacks to cause extensive damage to symbols and monuments of a particular religious faith with the intention to strike terror among a particular section of the community. A case initially registered at the Ukkadam police station in Coimbatore was referred to NIA and the central agency re-registered the case on October 27, the release said.
Several materials, including digital devices, were seized during searches carried out at 33 places in Coimbatore by a team of around 100 NIA officials, which arrived from Chennai and Kochi, with the support of the city police. Searches were also conducted in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and at one location in Kerala’s Palakkad district, sources said.
In Coimbatore city, NIA officials searched properties of suspects linked to Mubeen and six others held in the case at Kottaimedu, Ukkadam, Ponvizhanagar, Rathinapuri Al-Ameen Colony, GM Nagar, Karumbukadai, HMPR Street, Rose Garden, Podanur, Kuniyamuthur, Kurichi and Selvapuram. The search operation which started at 4.30am ended at most places in Coimbatore within two hours. At a few places, the search continued till afternoon.
In Tiruppur, a house belonging to Mohammed Yousuf, brother-in-law of Mubeen, located on Venkateswara Nagar Sixth Street along Kangeyam Road, was searched by officials. The officials later took Yusuf to Tiruppur South Police station and released him after several hours of questioning. A mobile phone and some documents were seized from him, sources said.
“The six suspects arrested in the case had conspired with Jamesha Mubeen to procure different chemicals and other substances for the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, including a vehicle-borne IED, from online shopping platforms to commit sensational terrorist acts. Further investigation is on,” the NIA press release said. NIA officials have also planned to move court to take all the six suspects lodged at Coimbatore Central Prison into custody for a detailed inquiry, sources said.
In Chennai, NIA sleuths searched houses and shops in Otteri, Thiruvottiyur, Mannady and seized some mobile phones and laptops. Two houses could not be searched as they were locked, sources said. The suspects whose premises were searched had been in touch with the accused, sources said.
The Chennai police, meanwhile, carried out separate searches at two places in Thiruvottiyur and one place in Pulianthope, including those belonging to two brothers, based on intelligence alert about their possible link to illegal activities.
Sources said 20,000 US dollars, Indian currency notes and a few documents written in Urdu have also been seized. “The documents will be analysed to see if they are regular religious texts or something else,” said an official.