NIA arrests one more in ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car bomb blast case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested another accused, Mohammed Idris, in a case related to an ISIS-inspired car bomb blast in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district last year, an official said on Wednesday (August 2).

Jamesha Mubeen, the prime accused in the case, was killed when the car laden with an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in front of the ancient Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil temple on Eswaran Kovil Street, Ukkadam, in Coimbatore on October 23, 2022.

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Idris, a resident of Coimbatore, has been arrested for conspiring with other accused to carry out the terror attack, an NIA spokesperson said, adding, “Idris was closely associated with Mubeen and was part of the conspiracy meetings with other accused in the planning of the terror attack.”

The official said investigations have revealed that Mubeen was inspired and motivated by the hardcore ideology of global terror group ISIS and had carried out the terror attack after promising allegiance to the proscribed groups self-proclaimed caliph Abu-Al-Hasan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi.

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On April 20 and June 2, the federal probe agency filed two separate charge sheets in the case before the NIA court at Poonamallee in Chennai against six and five accused, respectively.

The case was initially registered by the Ukkadam Police Station and subsequently taken over by NIA on October 27, 2022.

(With agency inputs)