The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on 6 August 2024, filed a charge sheet against four individuals in connection with an Islamic State (IS) radicalization and recruitment case uncovered during the investigation of a 2022 car explosion outside the Sangameswarar Temple in Kottaimedu, Coimbatore. Jameel Basha, Mohammed Hussain, Irshath, and Syed Abdur Rahman were charged under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
https://x.com/NIA_India/status/1821023870163312944
The NIA’s Chennai branch registered the case in August 2023 based on findings from the car explosion probe. It reported that the accused were involved in recruiting susceptible youth into the Islamic State to perpetrate illegal and terrorist activities. They conducted religious indoctrination at an Arabic language centre named Madras Arabic College in Coimbatore, which was later renamed Kovai Arabic College, according to an NIA press release.
It said, “Basha, the patron and chief mentor, instructed his former students to set up Arabic language centres at the district level. Hussain and Irshath established the centre in Coimbatore. The radicalization of youth took place through social media platforms and classroom sessions, featuring live or pre-recorded sermons by Basha. The vehicle-borne IED attack outside the temple was part of the violent jihad endorsed by the accused. Jamesha Mubeen (deceased), who had pledged allegiance to Darul-e-Islam/IS, executed the blast as part of the Islamic State’s anti-India campaign after being radicalized by Syed Abdur Rahman.”
Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, through his ‘X’ account, said, “The NIA has charged four more radical terrorist elements, a blight on our society, as part of the ongoing investigation into the Coimbatore suicide bombing case in October 2022. The DMK may persist in labelling it a mere cylinder blast, but today, Tamil Nadu is suffering the consequences of electing a party that has sacrificed the state’s law and order for the sake of petty vote bank politics.”
https://x.com/annamalai_k/status/1820849856975700123
In 2022, a Coimbatore bomb blast occurred when an LPG cylinder burst inside a Maruti 800 car at around 4:30 am on 23 October 2022, causing the vehicle to explode. The car, carrying the improvised explosive device, was driven by Jamesha Mubeen. It happened outside the famous Kottai Eshwaran Temple. The DMK government and its police maintained that it was an LPG cylinder explosion and not a terrorist act. Only after the NIA took over the probe did it come to light that it was indeed a terror attack.
https://x.com/venkatesh_Ragu/status/1584563291493265408
The probe revealed that the cylinder explosion was a terrorist attack committed by Islamic terrorists during the Diwali festival. Nails and ball bearings, supposedly meant for inflicting maximum casualties, were also recovered from the spot. Investigators had recovered handwritten paper documents from Jamesha Mubeen’s house. These documents listed the popular spots in Coimbatore that they had plans to recce or had already done so. Chemicals used for making crude bombs were also found at his house. In that case, the NIA has arrested 15 persons.
After the blast, K. Annamalai stated, “The incident in Coimbatore is no longer just a ‘cylinder blast’. It is a clear act of terror with ISIS links. Will the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu come forward and acknowledge this? The Tamil Nadu government has been hiding this information for 12 hours now. Is this not a blatant failure of the state intelligence machinery and the DMK government?”
https://x.com/annamalai_k/status/1584201445817348096
The growth of radicalization poses a significant threat to society. If politicians remain silent on these developments, terrorists may become emboldened to take further actions. It is crucial to identify and dismantle the sleeper cells active in Tamil Nadu. The inaction of the DMK state government highlights the poor state of law and order in the region.
