NIA arrests another suspect in Coimbatore blast case

The NIA has so far arrested around 175 people in about 40 terror cases of attacks, conspiracy and funding inspired by Islamic State ideology in the country

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested another accused in the October 2022 Coimbatore blast case, in which the suicide bomber was killed.

The NIA had filed two separate charge sheets in the case on April 20 and June 2 this year against six and five accused, respectively. (File Photo)

The accused, identified as Coimbatore resident Mohammed Idris, was arrested for conspiring with other accused persons to carry out the terror attack that took place in front of the ancient Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil temple at Eswaran Kovil Street, Ukkadam in Coimbatore on October 23, 2022.

The vehicle carrying the improvised explosive device was driven by the deceased Jamesha Mubeen, with whom Idris was closely associated, the NIA said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Idris was part of secret conspiracy meetings with Mubeen and other accused persons in planning the terror attack,” the NIA said.

NIA investigations have revealed that Mubeen was inspired and motivated by hardcore Islamic State (IS) ideology and had committed the terror attack after promising allegiance to the terrorist organisation’s self-proclaimed Caliph Abu-Al-Hasan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi.

Earlier, the NIA had filed two separate charge sheets in the case on April 20 and June 2 this year against six and five accused, respectively.

The NIA charge sheet in the case, filed on April 20, stated that Mubeen and his cousins started procuring raw material for the IED from March after the conspiracy meeting in the Sathyamangalam forest of Erode in February 2022.

IS had claimed responsibility for the blast through its magazine ‘Voice of Khorasan’, saying it was carried out as a revenge to uphold the honour of their religion and to establish ‘Allah’s deen’.

NIA has so far arrested around 175 people about 40 cases of terror attacks, conspiracy and funding that have been inspired by the IS ideology in the country. The charge sheets have been filed in over 32 cases linked to the IS.

It has also prepared a database of IS modules busted so far, with detailed analysis on handlers, funding, modus operandi, countries visited, ideologues etc.