Jamesha Mubeen, the prime accused in the Coimbatore car bomb blast case, was inspired by the ideology of terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency on Thursday said, reported The Indian Express.
On October 23, a blast had taken place near a temple in Ukkadam in the car that contained liquified petroleum gas cylinders and some other materials, including nails. Mubeen was driving the car and was killed in the explosion.
Besides Mubeen, the police had arrested five other persons, Mohammad Thalka (25), Mohammad Asarudheen (25), Mohammad Riyaz (27), Feroz Ismail (27) and Mohammad Navaz Ismail (27).
The National Investigation Agency had taken over the case on October 27. The agency have charged Mubeen’s alleged associates under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Indian Penal Code and the Explosives Substances Act.
“A pen drive recovered from Mohammed Asarudheen contained videos recordings of Jamesha Mubeen, where he had identified himself as a member of Daulat-e-Islamia [or Islamic State],” the chargesheet claimed, reported the newspaper. “He had spoken extensively on his intention to commit a suicide terror attack against the ‘kafirs’ [non-believers] and to become a martyr.”
The agency also claimed that Mubeen was inspired by the sermons of Zahran Hashim, a radical Islamic cleric from Sri Lanka, who planned the 2019 Easter serial suicide bomb attacks. In April 2019, a series of attacks were carried out by a nine suicide bombers at three churches and several luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. The bombings had killed 269 persons, including 11 Indians.
Mubeen wanted to orchestrate a similar kind of attack in India, the NIA alleged.
The agency had also recovered handwritten notes from Mubeen’s home that mentioned criticism of the existing democratic system claiming it was not in line with Islamic laws.
Mubeen was assisted by the five other accused persons in arranging logistics for the attack.
“Thalha had sourced the Maruti 800 blue car bearing registration number TN-01-F-6163, which was used in the explosion,” the chargesheet said, reported The Indian Express. “Firos, Riyas and Navas had loaded the explosives, gas cylinders, etc in the car. Asarutheen and Afsar, both cousins of Mubeen, had procured, weighed, mixed, and packed the chemical constituents used to manufacture the VBIED [vehicle-borne improvised explosives device] used in the attack.”
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