ED raids 16 locations in terror funding probe linked to 2022 Coimbatore car blast

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided multiple locations across three states, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Mumbai on Thursday, July 30. These raids were a part of a money-laundering investigation into alleged terror funding connected to the 2022 ISIS-inspired car bomb blast in Coimbatore, officials said.

The ED has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, based on multiple FIRs filed by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the 2022 suicide bomb explosion near the Sangameshwarar temple in Coimbatore.

The agency said that the attack was carried out by suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen and others as an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack using a car packed with explosives.

According to the ED, the accused funded their alleged terror activities through two channels: a fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate scheme run during the pandemic, and fraudulent investments, or donations in Coimbatore's Kovai Arabic College which the agency said was heavily involved in radicalizing young people.

The COVID-19 funds came from people who wanted fake vaccination certificates without actually getting vaccinated, the ED said.

The investigation found that a dozen accused in the case, including Mubeen, attended sessions at Kovai Arabic College either in person or online, according to the ED. 

They were mentored by Jameel Basha, the college's promoter and were later in-doctrinated into Salafi-Jihadi ideology after which they conspired to carry out the attack in support of the banned terrorist group ISIS, the agency said.

Mubeen died in the blast, which took place on October 23, 2022, near the Sangameswarar temple at Kottaimedu in Coimbatore.

(With inputs from PTI)