Coimbatore, a highly industrialised city in the State of Tamil Nadu, was rocked by a blast on October 23. Known as the ‘Manchester of South India’, the city with a history of terror attacks is again up on its feet.
The anicent city, which is known for its textile mills, and automobile industry, has been under the spotlight recently over an explosion that took place in the vicinity of Kottai Easwaran Temple. Here is a timeline of the incident:
October 22, 2022:
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.
October 23, 2022:
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.
October 24, 2022:
A total of 5 people, namely, Mohammad Thalka, Mohammad Azarudheen, Riyaz, Nawaz and Feroz were arrested in connection to the case. The five accused were charged under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Section 3A of the Explosive Substances Act by the Ukkadam police.
All of them are residents of Coimbatore. Meanwhile, the police raided the house of Mubin and recovered 75kg of chemical materials, including charocial, potassium nitrate, suplhur and and aluminium powder.
It also came to light that Mubin was interrogated by the NIA in 2019 in connection to the Easter bomb blasts. “He was one among the five people we had to examine in 2019 since he had been attending Bayan classes at a Coimbatore mosque of the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ),” a source told The Indian Express.
“These classes were closely related to Mohammed Azarudeen, who had direct contact with Zahran Hashim, the mastermind and the leader of the suicide bombers in Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka,” the source further added.
October 25, 2022:
Coimbatore City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan informed that charges against the accused were altered to Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), and 153 A (promoting enmity between two different groups).
Besides, the 5 men were also booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They were also remanded to judicial custody till Novemebr 8, 2022.
October 26, 2022:
A meeting took place between senior officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Tamil Nadu police. CM Stalin also held a meeting with top officials of the Tamil Nadu government to review the law and order situation in Coimbatore.
Meanwhile, BJP announced that a day-long strike (bandh) would be observed on October 31, 2022 to protests against the ‘lethargic attitude’ of the ruling DMK government in the Coimbatore blast probe.
October 27, 2022:
The Coimbatore police arrested the 6th accused in connection to the blast. Identified as Afsar Khan, he played a crucial role in helping Jamesha Mubin procure explosive subtances from e-commerce platforms.
Khan is also said to be the cousin brother of Mubin. He was arrested after being interrogated by the police for 5 years. His house was also raided and a laptop was recovered, which was then sent for forensic analysis.
Moreover, the case was transferred to the NIA by the Centre, following the recommendation of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. An official said, “The Union home ministry decided to hand over the Coimbatore blast case to the NIA.”
October 28, 2022:
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi criticised the Tamil Nadu government for delay in engaging the services of the NIA.
“Coimbatore is a known place for hatching terror modules. Within hours of the attack, it was clear that it was a terror attack. The materials used indicated a larger conspiracy. I credit the Tamil Nadu Police,” he remarked.
“Here, the law enforcement agency should be given a free hand. We cannot go soft on terrorism. Those who try to sabotage the progress of the country will not succeed. So, my appeal is not to go soft on them. We must be one, clear-headed, decisive, and tough in our words and actions (against terrorism),” he concluded.
October 29, 2022:
The Coimbatore unit of the BJP called off their day-long strike, following requests by local business community about the possible economic losses of such a protest.
It has now come to light that 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.
“Incidents such as CAA, the hijab row, restrictions on food, and killings over beef were mentioned as problems faced by Indian Muslims, who, he wrote, were becoming second-class citizens. He also wondered how these problems could be overcome,” a source told The Indian Express.
The Coimbatore serial blasts of 1998
A series of devastating bomb blasts rocked Coimbatore on 14 February 1998 which killed around 60 people and nearly killed LK Advani, the then BJP president whose scheduled arrival was delayed as his flight was delayed by over 90 minutes.
The bombs were concealed in cars, motorcycles, bicycles, side boxes of two-wheeler, denim and rexine bags, and fruit carts. Reports mention that the bombings were apparently in retaliation to the 1997 Coimbatore riots that happened during November and December in the year 1997.
The terror plot was named ‘Operation Allahu Akbar’ and intended to kill Advani who was supposed to address an election meeting in the city that day. Seven human bombers with immediate package explosives fastened to their waists were ready to attack Advani.
However, their preparations failed since they were unable to penetrate the police barrier and approach him. But the other explosives put across the city, in vehicles, motorcycles, tea cans, unsecured bags, and so on, were detonated, causing extensive mayhem and loss of life throughout Coimbatore.
The investigation later revealed that an Islamists terrorist organisation named Al-Ummah and it’s chief Syed Ahmed Basha were responsible for the attack. Basha had planned the attack in retaliation to the 1997 riots.
Basha, the first accused and the founder-president of Al-Ummah, was then sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 120-B (conspiracy) of the IPC read with additional IPC offences, including murder, in 2003, and three years of hard imprisonment under Section 153 A (1) of the IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).
Basha’s brother, Nawab Khan, was also sentenced to life in jail and 27 years in prison too. Now, Khan’s son identified as Muhammed Thalka has been arrested for his involvement in the recent cylinder blasts that happened in the city on October 23.