NIA makes 3 additional arrests in the Coimbatore car bombing case

Wednesday saw the arrest of three more people by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in relation to the October 23 car bombing in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, which resulted in the death by charring of Jameesha Mubin, a 29-year-old young woman. Ummer Farooq (39), Mohammed Thoufiq (24), and Feroze Khan have been named as the people that were detained (28). Since the alleged lone wolf attack on October 23, the NIA has been conducting searches and making arrests. Six people were detained by the NIA in relation to the earlier explosion, and they were charged with violating the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and remanded to judicial custody.

The six people detained include Mohammed Talka, the nephew of S.A. Basha, the founder of Al Umma, and a terrorist imprisoned in connection with the Coimbatore blast case on February 14, 1998, which resulted in 56 fatalities and over 200 injuries. The NIA has carried out searches in numerous locations in the districts of Coimbatore, Tiruchy, and Madurai and interrogated a number of people in relation to the case. It may be recalled that the police and NIA had questioned numerous people in relation to the fact that Mohammed Shareeq, the accused in the Mangaluru autorickshaw bomb case, had resided in some regions of the Coimbatore, Madurai, and Kanniyakumari districts.

Jameesha Mubin and Mohammed Shareeq allegedly plotted at a home in Tamil Nadu while they were both acquainted, according to earlier claims made by the NIA. They had a handler named Arafat Ali, who was their financier and was stationed in Dubai. The deceased accused, Jameesha Mubeen, “had taken ‘bayath’ to the IS and had planned to carry out a suicidal attack and cause extensive damage to symbols and monuments of a particular religious faith and with the intention to strike terror among the people,” according to preliminary investigations, the NIA stated.Investigations have shown that the suspects Ummer Farooq and Feroze Khan participated in the conspiracy meetings that Jamesha Mubeen attended at Umar’s home in Coonor, Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, and they also assisted Jamesha Mubeen in carrying out the terrorist acts. In addition to radicalism-related materials and incriminating literature, Mohammed Thoufiq possessed handwritten notes on how to make explosives.