Coimbatore blast case investigation exposes terror network in Arabic College: Ahmed Ali, Sheik Dawood and 2 others arrested by NIA
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested four more accused in the Tamil Nadu radicalisation and recruitment case, an offshoot of the Coimbatore car bomb blast case, according to an official statement. The NIA has arrested a total of eight people in this case so far.
As per the release, the accused persons are identified as Ahmed Ali, Jawahar Sathik, Raja Abdullah aka MAC Raja, and Sheik Dawood. The four accused had been radicalised by Jameel Basha, the founder of Madras Arabic College, who, along with his associates, was involved in recruiting gullible youth and subtly infusing Salafi-Jihadi ideology into them in the guise of imparting Arabic language classes in Tamil Nadu.
NIA had earlier arrested and charged Jameel Basha and his associates Irshath, Syed Abdur Rahman and Mohammed Hussain, who were using the classrooms and social platform to carry out their anti-national radicalisation and recruitment activities. NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had promoted Khilafat ideology and martyrdom through jihad, advocating violence and armed struggle to establish an Islamic state after removing the democratically elected government.
The radicalisation and recruitment activities had led to the Coimbatore car bomb blast in October 2022, in which the suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen carried out a vehicle-borne IED attack in front of an ancient temple in Coimbatore. NIA is continuing with its investigation in the TN ISIS Radicalisation and Recruitment Case, as part of its efforts to check radical terror activities against the nation.
Coimbatore blast case
Coimbatore, a highly industrialised city in the State of Tamil Nadu, was rocked by a blast on 23rd October 2022. On 22nd October, an engineering graduate named Jamesha Mubin was caught on CCTV, loading a large object (LPG cylinder) wrapped in white bag onto his Maruti 800 car. It was around 11:25 pm. Mubin was accompanied by 3 other men, namely, Mohammad Riyaz, Feroz Ismail and Mohammad Navaz Ismail.
The car carrying Jamesha Mubin exploded mid-journey in the Ukkadam area of Coimbatore. It was 4 am in the morning. The incident took place adjacent to the Kottai Easwaran Temple. When the matter came to light, a contingent of police and forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the explosion.
A total of 6 teams were formed, as part of the probe. ADGP P Thamarai Kannan reviewed the situation at ground zero. Preliminary investigation revealed that one of the two commercial cylinders onboard the car had exploded while the other remained intact. As per reports, the remains of Mubin’s body were unrecognisable.
Initially, it was believed to be a simple accident, that the LPG cylinder exploded due to some reason. But many people didn’t believe this, including BJP leader K Annamalai. Later police confirmed that it was part of a terror act and it was not a regular accident. Jamesha Mubin was motivated by the Islamic State and engaged in preparing for jihad. Reportedly, he was on a suicide mission to destroy a large area including a Hindu temple using his car bomb.
However, the sinister plan failed and it ended up killing him. Initially thought to be a regular accident, it has now emerged that the Coimbatore cylinder blast was a jihadi terror attack gone wrong. Police believe that Mubin learnt about explosives from the Internet and he had no training in making bombs, which resulted in the failure of the mission.
The handwritten entries (in Tamil), recovered from his residence, involved references to Muslims as “second-class citizens,” the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the hijab dispute in Karnataka, and a flow diagram with the names of Gods from various religions. 18 jihadis had already been arrested in the case.
Radicalisation carried out in Arabic college
The NIA last year informed that they have filed a chargesheet against 4 men for radicalising youths and recruiting them for terrorist outfit ISIS. The accused have been identified as Jameel Basha, Mohammed Hussain, Irshath and Syed Abdur Rahman, a statement issued by the NIA said. The accused have been charged under the relevant sections of the IPC and UA (P) Act.
The NIA, during the investigation into the explosion that was triggered outside an ancient temple in Coimbatore, had established that the majority of the accused arrested in the case were engaged in the recruitment of gullible youth to the ISIS fold for the commission of unlawful and terrorist activities.
The religious indoctrination was carried out by the accused at an Arabic language centre called Madras Arabic College (at Coimbatore), later renamed as Kovai Arabic College, the statement said.
Jameel Basha was the patron and chief mentor, who had guided his alumni to establish Arabic language centres at the district level, it said. The centre at Coimbatore was set up by Mohammed Hussain and Irshath.
According to NIA’s statement, Jameel Basha’s live or recorded speeches were played for the students at these centres. Social media platforms were also utilized to radicalize young people. The IED planted in a car exploded outside the Coimbatore temple “as part of the violent jehad espoused by the accused”, the agency said.
The investigation agency further stated that accused Jamesha Mubeen, who died, was radicalized by accused Syed Abdur Rahman and swore allegiance to Darul-e-Islam, or ISIS. He carried out the IED blast as part of the terrorist group’s anti-India campaign.
(With inputs from ANI)
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