Chennai, Oct 29 ( BPNS)
Jameesha Mubin, the suicide bomber who exploded on October 23 in his car near the Sangameshar temple, Ukkadam, Coimbatore had earlier conducted a recce of three temples including the Sangameswar temple.
A senior officer with the Tamil Nadu police told BPNS that the group was planning a major strike in the city leading to a large number of deaths and also destruction of temples.
According to investigators, Jameesha Mubin, the terrorist who exploded in the car explosion has carried out a lone wolf attack which is typical of the ISIS model of suicide bombings. It may be noted that Mubin was following IS ideology.
The investigation team also told BPNS that Mubin, Afsar Khan, and Mohammed Azharuddin had gone several times to study the Sangameswarar temple, Mundhi Vinayagar temple, and Koniamman temple as a recce of the three temples.
According to information police are studying the surveillance camera near all three temples, Sangameswarar temple, Mundhi Vinayagar temple, and Koniamman temple, and corroboration with the information revealed by the accomplices of Mubin who are in police custody.
Police said that Mubin, Azharudhin, and Afsar Khan had sourced the two LPG cylinders from an agency near Gandhi park in Coimbatore and had procured three metal cans loaded with the explosives, marbles, and nails and were expecting a major blast damaging the temple and surroundings and killing many people. However, only one cylinder exploded and there was not much damage to the temple and people around the area.
Even though Mubin was killed in the explosion, he is the first accused in the case along with Mohammed Azharuddin, Afsar Khan, Feroze Ismail, Mohammed Talha, Mohammed Nawaz Ismail, and Mohammed Riyaz.
Of the accused who are charged under the UAPA, Mohammed Talha is the son of Nawas Khan who is the brother of S.A. Basha, the founder of Islamic terror organization, Al- Umma that had planned and executed the Coimbatore serial blasts of February 14, 1998, in which 56 people lost their lives and 200 injured severely. The blasts that took place at 12 places in 11 locations of Coimbatore was planned to kill then Deputy Prime Minister of the country and senior leader of the BJP, Lal Krishna Advani.
The police are also investigating the role played by C.A. Rauf, Kerala state secretary of the banned Popular Front of India, who was in hiding ever since the ban at several places in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. He was arrested on Thursday early morning after sleuths from the NIA cordoned off his residence at Pattambi in Palakkad district of Kerala. Palakkad district is adjacent to Coimbatore.
