NIA enquires suspects arrested in Kovai blast case


Coimbatore, Nov 12: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials conducted an investigation in Coimbatore with three suspects who were arrested in connection to the car bomb explosion case.
On October 23, 2022, a car bomb exploded in front of the Kottai Easwaran Temple in Ukkadam, Coimbatore. The mastermind behind the incident, Jamesha Mubin, who was from the same area, died in the explosion.
Charge Sheets Filed
A total of 14 people were arrested in connection with this case, and the NIA filed four charge sheets against them in the special court at Poonamallee, Chennai.
Recently, on the 21st of this month, the NIA arrested Abu Hanifa, an Arabic college teacher from Bothanur; Saran Mariyappan from Selvapuri; and Bawas Rahman, a medical representative from Ukkadam GM Nagar.
These three were arrested after it was discovered that one of them had raised funds for commission purposes, they were deeply influenced by the ideology of the ISIS terrorist group, and they had pledged allegiance to Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi, the then-leader of ISIS, promising to carry out attacks.
With these arrests, the total number of individuals detained rose to 17. The NIA officials took the suspects to Chennai under heavy security, where they were produced in the special court at Poonamallee and subsequently remanded to Puzhal prison.
The NIA later filed a petition in the special court seeking custody of the three suspects for further investigation. The judge approved the petition, granting a 14-day custody period.
Following this, the NIA officials brought the three suspects to Coimbatore yesterday for questioning.
The interrogation is being conducted at the NIA camp office located within the Coimbatore Police Training School premises.
Further, the officials have planned to take the suspects to various locations in Coimbatore for on-site investigations.