Coimbatore blast case: Bomber's target may have been a textile shop
Details emerging from the probe, which has been taken over by the NIA, suggest that Jameesha Mubin (29) was untrained and unwell, and blew himself up by mistake
The 29-year-old man who blew himself up in a Maruti 800 car used to sell second-hand clothes for a living, said police officers investigating the Coimbatore car blast case.
Inputs emerging from the probe, which has now been taken over by the NIA, suggest that Jameesha Mubin (29) was reportedly untrained.
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Investigation by the special team in Coimbatore said Jameesha was not a suicide bomber, and he did not know how to handle explosives. “He was not keeping well. In fact, he had suicidal thoughts. But, he probably never planned to kill himself in a blast,” a police officer, who is part of the investigation, told The Federal.
In poor health
According to the officer, Jameesha is survived by his wife and two children. “While his wife is speech and hearing impaired, Jameesha had vision and heart problems. He had undergone surgeries for the same,” the official said.
“The place where the car exploded was not his target. He probably was on his way to another target spot when he had to stop upon encountering the beat police personnel a few metres away from the crime scene,” the official said.
A visit by this correspondent to Coimbatore revealed that the distance between Jameesha’s house and the place where the car exploded is fewer than 500 metre.
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Asked if it is not common for a local resident to know the regular police checkpoints in their locality, another senior police officer who sought anonymity said that it was a mere coincidence that police was present in that locality.
“The temple is one of the points where beat patrolling police have to visit, sign a ledger. The beat police were supposed to visit the place at 3:30 am,” he said.
“Police officers visited the place at around 3:30 am and were about to leave at around 4:10 am when Jameesha came there. And that is the reason why he started from his house at 3:45 am and went to Vincent Road to take the car and drove this way,” said a senior police officer.
The officer also said that his possible target could have been the parking space of a textile shop at Oppanakara street.
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Based on a preliminary forensic report, the police said that he may have made bombs watching YouTube videos.
Untrained in bomb-making
“The three boxes in Jameesha’s car had potassium nitrate, aluminium powder, sulphur and charcoal apart from nails and balls. He had not mixed them up, instead kept them in separate boxes. He used isopropyl alcohol to set off the bomb. This indicates that he was not trained in making such bombs,” said the senior official.
People who knew Jameeesha said that he did not have many friends and mostly kept aloof. Until 2019, he was working at a book shop and later, he was asked to leave after the NIA raided his house at GM Nagar in Ukkadam.
Later, he started to make a living by selling old clothes. “He used to get old shirts for ₹5-10, and have them dry-cleaned, which would cost ₹10-15. Then, he would pack them and sell them on the platforms and in markets for a cheaper price. That is how he was making a living for all these years,” said a relative of Jameesha.
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“We still do not know what pushed him into this. He was behaving a bit unusual. But, it is not new. He has been behaving this way since he got married and took the family’s responsibility upon him,” the relative added.
