Chennai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will be conducting more probes into the Coimbatore car blast case in which a 29-year-old youth, Jameesha Mubin was charred to death.
The blast, which is considered a lone wolf attack by the Islamists on Diwali eve on October 23, would have led to a large number of deaths had not the blast taken place at a place where very few people were moving around.
The NIA that took over the investigation had conducted raids and searches at several places in Tamil Nadu and even in some regions in Kerala. On Sunday, a group of NIA sleuths interrogated five youths who are in judicial custody following the Coimbatore blast. The interrogation that commenced on Sunday morning lasted till the afternoon.
Sources in the premium investigating agency told IANS that the agency would be conducting more searches across the state and in some neighbouring states to cross-verify certain facts that were revealed by the youths who are in judicial custody.
Nine youths, who are in judicial custody in relation to the Coimbatore car blast, five were interrogated by the NIA. One of the five is Mohammed Talka, a nephew of S.A. Basha, an Islamist terror operative who is the founder of the terror outfit, Al Umma. Basha is presently in judicial custody in the Coimbatore serial blast of February 14, 1998, in which 56 people lost their lives.
Tamil Nadu Police sources also told IANS that the presence of Mohammed Talka has led to the agencies investigating the possibilities of Al Umma’s involvement in the car blast and the planning into any further explosions in the state or neighbouring states.
On November 19, a similar terror act occurred in Mangaluru in which a blast took place in an autorickshaw, and later it was revealed that accused Mohammed Shariq had acquainted with the Coimbatore car blast deceased, Jameesha Mubin. The NIA is linking the two blasts and the role played by external and internal forces in these two identical blasts.
