The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against six accused persons in the Coimbatore car bomb blast case.
An explosion had taken place at an ancient temple “Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil” at Eswaran Kovil Street, Ukkadam, Coimbatore in October last year. A vehicle-borne Improvised Explosives Device (VB-IED) driven by Jamesha Mubeen had blown up in front of the temple. Mubeen was killed in the blast.
“Investigations had revealed Mubeen was inspired by ISIS ideology to carry out this attack. He had also taken ‘bayath’ or oath of allegiance to its self-proclaimed Caliph Abu-al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi,” the NIA said in a statement.
The NIA re-registered the case on October 27, 2022 and took up the investigation.
A pen drive recovered from Mohammed Asarutheen contained video recordings of Jamesha Mubeen, where he had identified himself as a member of Daulat-e-Islamia (or Islamic State). He had spoken extensively on his intention to commit a suicide terror attack against the ‘kafirs’ (non-believers) and to become a martyr, the agency said.
Mubeen was inspired by the bayans (sermons) of Zahran Hashim, a radical Islamic cleric of Sri Lanka, who masterminded the Easter serial suicide bomb attacks in 2019 killing around 260 people. Mubeen wanted to orchestrate a similar kind of attack against the ‘kafirs’ in India, it said.
Handwritten notes were recovered from Mubeen’s residence wherein criticism of the existing democratic system, which is not in tandem with Islamic laws, has been mentioned. There is also a mention of ‘targets’, including government office buildings, district court, public gathering places like parks, railway station, and a few other local temples are also mentioned in these notes.