COIMBATORE / CHENNAI: National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams conducted surprise raids at 26 locations in Tamil Nadu and five in Hyderabad on Saturday in connection to the probe into the 2022 Coimbatore car blast. An NIA statement said its searches were focused on places where a TN ISIS module is suspected to have been radicalising and recruiting members.
The epicentre of the searches was Coimbatore, where 22 locations were searched, including the residence of a DMK corporation councillor, the home of a DMK functionary and an Arabic college attended by Jamesha Mubin (28) who died in the blast. The agency’s teams also raided three sites in Chennai and one in Tenkasi. It said it had seized several digital devices and documents, as well as Indian and foreign currency.
The NIA, in a statement, said the case pertains to covert operations allegedly conducted by a group of individuals to radicalise youngsters. The module was formed at the beginning of the year, it said. A case has been registered under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121A (conspiracy to overthrow the government) of IPC and Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “The radicalisation was being carried out in the garb of conducting Arabic classes at their regional study centres. Such radicalisation activities were being flashed online on social media platforms and mobile applications like WhatsApp and Telegram,” it said.
The statement claimed NIA’s probe revealed ISIS-inspired “agent provocateurs” were engaged in the propagation of Khilafat ideology, which is inimical to India’s constitutionally established principles of secularism and democracy. The statement claimed NIA’s probe revealed ISIS-inspired “agent provocateurs” were engaged in the propagation of Khilafat ideology, which is inimical to India’s constitutionally established principles of secularism and democracy.
“The group involved in the case had entered into a conspiracy to radicalise and recruit youth, who were later found involved in terrorist and unlawful activities. One such terror attack was the Coimbatore car blast case of October 23, 2022,” the release added.
Several incriminating books in vernacular and Arabic languages were seized, in addition to Rs 60 lakh in Indian currency and 18,200 US dollars, NIA claimed. During the raids that started at 5.30 am, the NIA searched residences, shops and other places linked to individuals who had been in contact with Mubin or had studied with him.
Officials searched the residence of Coimbatore Corporation Ward 82 councillor and taxation committee chairperson VB Mubasheera, a DMK member. Mubasheera’s husband Arif runs a vegetable store next to one run by Sanafar Ali, who was arrested by the NIA in the case. Arif told reporters he and his family cooperated and nothing was seized from his home. The teams also searched the house of Tamimun Ansari, deputy organiser of DMK’s ward 86 youth wing, at Ukkadam.
The 2022 blast occurred at Kottaimedu and killed Mubin, a resident of the same locality. After preliminary investigations revealed his connections with ISIS, the NIA took up the case. The NIA has so far arrested 13 persons in connection to the case.
Coimbatore councillor’s residence searched
NIA sleuths searched the residence of Coimbatore Corporation Ward 82 councillor and taxation committee chairperson VB Mubasheera, who is a DMK member. Her husband Arif runs a vegetable store next to one run by Sanafar Ali, who had been arrested in the case. Arif told reporters his family fully cooperated and nothing was seized from their home