COIMBATORE: Eswaran Kovil street, a major thoroughfare connecting Ukkadam and Townhall in Coimbatore city became desolate during the busy Diwali shopping season as a result of the car blast incident.
The incident happened at around 4 am on Sunday early morning in front of Kottai Sangameshwarar temple. Following the incident, more than 500 police personnel from western districts were brought to Coimbatore. ADGP P Thamarai Kannan, Coimbatore City police commissioner K Balakrishnan and other senior officials are camping on the spot.
Police block off the entire stretch of Eswaran Kovil street and all the entries to the Kottaimedu to prevent anyone from entering and are compelled to close all the stores to ease security measures. The majority of small-scale cloth vendors reported negative Diwali sales on the final day.
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It is said that police collected bearing balls, glass pebbles and aluminium nails found spread around the place. "Police have formed six special teams and further investigation is underway," said ADGP Thamarai Kannan.
MA Abubakar Siddique who runs a textile shop told The New Indian Express most of them had lent money for the Diwali business and were unable to reap the last day's sales. "Around 130 shops are there and we came here to open the shop in the early morning expecting the last day sale. But due to the incident, we are not allowed to continue the business. We don't know how to meet our business loss," he said.
Senthil Kannan who runs Aavin milk retail outlet near the Sangameshwarar temple and resides nearby witnessed the incident first. According to the sources, he told police that he noticed the blast when he was stepping out of the house at around 4 am to open the Aavin milk vending outlet. The car caught fire following the blast. He along with a few locals tried to douse the fire. A woman who resides near the temple alerted fire and rescue services over the phone. The fire tender which was on standby in the town hall area was immediately diverted to the location and the personnel doused the fire within a few minutes, according to the sources