The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday announced the arrest of four more individuals in connection with radicalisation and recruitment activities linked to the 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast. The fresh arrests bring the total number of accused in the case to eight.The arrested individuals have been identified as Ahmed Ali, Jawahar Sathik, Raja Abdullah alias MAC Raja, and Sheik Dawood. The NIA stated that the arrests are part of the ongoing investigation into the “TN ISIS Radicalisation and Recruitment Case,” which emerged as an offshoot of the Coimbatore blast probe.
According to the NIA, the four men were radicalised by Jameel Basha, founder of the Madras Arabic College, also known as Kovai Arabic College. Basha allegedly used Arabic language classes as a front to recruit and indoctrinate youth with Salafi-Jihadi ideology.
Basha and three of his close associates ā Irshad, Syed Abdur Rahman, and Mohammed Hussain ā were previously arrested and charge-sheeted for their roles in the network. Investigations have revealed that the group used both physical classrooms and social media platforms to spread extremist views and promote violent ideologies.
The NIA also stated that the group supported the extremist Khilafat ideology, promoted the concept of martyrdom through jihad, and advocated armed violence to replace Indiaās democratic government with an Islamic state.
The radicalisation efforts of the group were found to be directly connected to the October 2022 suicide bombing outside a temple in Coimbatore, where Jamesha Mubeen detonated a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED).
The agency affirmed that investigations are ongoing as part of its continued efforts to counter radical terror networks posing a threat to national security.