While nine people have been arrested thus far in connection with the car cylinder blast that occurred in front of the Kottai Easwaran temple in Coimbatore's Ukkadam area, NIA officials have arrested Sheikh Hidayatullah of Al Ameen Colony and Sanofar Ali, a resident of Vincent Road in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: A car cylinder had exploded in front of the Kottai Easwaran temple in Coimbatore 's Ukkadam area on October 23, just before Diwali. The deceased in the car had been identified as Jamesha Mubin, a resident of Ukkadam. On further investigation, it was found that the blast was part of a larger conspiracy to demoralise the peace in society.
The six accused as being part of the conspiracy were identified as Mohammad Talka, Mohammad Azharuddin, Mohammad Riyaz, Feroz Ismail, Mohammad Nawaz Ismail and Afsar Khan. Subsequently, the investigation in the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
NIA officials conducted searches at more than 40 locations across Tamil Nadu in connection with the blast case. A few weeks ago, the NIA had arrested three more persons, including Umar Farooq and Feroz Khan and all the nine arrested were lodged in Puzhal jail in Chennai.
The NIA has taken into custody five of the nine arrested — Mohammad Azharuddin, Afsar Khan, Feroz Ismail, Umar Farooq and Feroz Khan. In the first phase of investigations, the five men were taken to Coimbatore, The Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam and other areas.
Based on the investigation, two more persons involved in the Coimbatore car cyliner blast case were identified as Sheikh Hidayatullah of Al Ameen Colony in Coimbatore and Sanofer Ali, a resident of Vincent Road and were arrested by the NIA. It has been revealed in the investigation that under the leadership of Umar Farooq who had been arrested in the case, a secret meeting was held in February at Sathyamangalam Hasanur and Kadambur forest areas.
According to the NIA investigation, Jamesha Mubin, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sheikh Idayatullah and Sanofar Ali had hatched the conspiracy. Jamesha Mubin had died in the blast while the other tow men are being interrogated by the NIA officials. The number of arrests in the Coimbatore car cylinder blast case has gone up to 11 with the recent arrest of two more men.