Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): The Coimbatore city police have invoked Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)and arrested five people after a 29-year-old Jemisha Mubeen was killed in a car explosion in front of a temple in the city on Sunday, City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan said.
"UAPA has been invoked since there has been an explosion," Balakrishnan said explaining that the preliminary investigation has revealed the role of conspiracy among the suspects who were arrested for aiding Mubeen with the logistics. Three of them were present physically while the 'cylinders' were loaded.
"Three of the arrested were seen in a CCTV footage, along with Mubeen earlier, carrying two LPG cylinders and two small drums, the content of which has been sent for forensic examination," the police officer said. The trio helped Mubeen with the logistics "with knowledge" while one helped for coordination while the other provided the car, the officer added.
On the possible terror angle, Balakrishnan maintained that the provisions of the UAPA has been invoked since there was an explosion and all angles are being probed. The explosion occurred few minutes after the police inspected the temple and left. When they heard the loud burst, they rushed and helped contain the fire, he said.
Soon after the explosion on Sunday, the police took all steps to maintain law and order and this ensured Deepavali was celebrated peacefully on Monday, he said. Those who were arrested on Monday have been identified as Mohammed Talka, Mohammed Azarudeen, Mohammed Riyas, Feroz Ismail, and Mohammed Navaz Ismail. Talka is a relative of S A Basha, the founder of Al Ummah which was banned by the government following the 1998 Coimbatore blasts, the officer added.
Some of them were earlier interrogated on suspicion by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 and the police are now probing their activities after 2019 as none of them were arraigned by the NIA. A huge cache of potassium nitrate (75 kg), charcoal and aluminium powder have been recovered from house of the deceased, he said.
Whether the deceased man Jemisha Mubeen had any truck with Mohammed Azharuddin, an accused in the Easter Sunday bomb blasts in a Sri Lankan Church in 2019, which killed over 250 people is being looked into, a source said. Visits of some of the arrested to neighbouring Kerala are also being investigated as part of the probe, the source added.
BJP smells ISIS links
Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai claimed it was a terror attack with an ISIS link saying "Ukkadam is a sensitive area with a Muslim-majority population. As this blast happened near Ukkadam's famous temple, 'Kottai Eshwaran Temple' police are on high alert and security has been beefed up across Coimbatore. Questioning the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government for state intelligence failure as Coimbatore cylinder blast.
Taking to Twitter, Annamalai said, "Coimbatore Cylinder blast is no more a 'cylinder blast'. It's a clear-cut terror act with ISIS links. Will CM Stalin come out in the open and accept this? The Tamil Nadu govt has been hiding this info for 12 hours now. Is this not a clear failure of the state intelligence machinery and DMK government?" He further claimed that "the police have recovered 50 Kg ammonium nitrate, potassium, sodium, fuse wire and 7-volt batteries from Jamesa's residence."
"The accused, who died during the planning of this attack, had clear-cut links to ISIS and was handled from outside the country. Still, some of the elements are active in Tamil Nadu soil. Go mercilessly after these nodes. CM MK Stalin, please come out of your hiding and own your failure," he added.
