Moments after five people were arrested on Monday in connection with an LPG cylinder blast incident near Coimbatore temple that killed one, several provisions of the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) have been slapped against the accused. The blast killed 25-year-old Jameza Mubin, who was driving the car and was also questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) back in 2019 in connection with the Easter Sunday church bombing in Sri Lanka, reported The Indian Express.
The NIA will now take over the case from the Tamil Nadu police, according to reports.
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The state police, which remained initially tight-lipped about a possible terror angle in the LPG blast, recovered huge quantities of materials used in explosives like ammonium nitrate, potassium, sulphur, charcoal and 7-volt batteries from Mubin’s house after his death. According to the police, the materials seized from Mubin’s house might have been sourced to carry out an attack in the future.
In 2019, Mubin, the man who was charred to death in the blast Sunday, was interrogated by the NIA after he was found taking Bayan lessons at a Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) mosque in Coimbatore, which was linked to Mohammed Azarudeen, who, in turn, was directly linked to Zahran Hashim, the mastermind behind the Sri Lanka Easter bombings, reported The Indian Express.
The blast in Coimbatore took place at 4 am on Sunday morning and as per the CCTV footages accessed by IE, Mubin was seen lifting a heavy object wrapped in white cloth along with three others at 11:25 pm on Saturday night. The heavy object, suspected to be the gas cylinder, exploded during the Sunday morning blast near the temple.
According to IE, another unexploded cylinder weighing 35 kg was also found from the explosion site.
The five who were arrested following Mubin’s death were identified as Muhammad Talka, Muhammed Azharuddin, Muhammed Riyaz, Firoze Ismail and Muhammed Nawaz Ismailm, reported news agency PTI.
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“On October 21, Jamesha Mubin posted a WhatsApp status similar to that of ISIS. Police haven’t said why they have arrested 5 people. On behalf of TN BJP, we’ve written a letter to the Union Home Minister regarding this blast. Police have to accept this as a ‘suicide attack’,” BJP state unit chief K Annamalai said, as reported by ANI, adding that the incident was an “intelligence failure.”
“How long will it take for the Chief Minister to accept the Intelligence has failed…bring professionals back to the force…the Home department had solid professionals, with those good in counter-terrorism, prior to 2021,” Annamalai told the press, as reported by PTI.