NIA raids 43 premises in connection with Kovai blast

CHENNAI: Sleuths from the National investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at 43 locations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala on Thursday, as part of their probe into the Coimbatore car blast of October 23, and seized digital devices and incriminating documents from the houses of suspects.

Six persons have already been arrested in the case that was registered with the NIA on October 27 after the State government, which decided to hand it over to them for investigation, shifted it from the Ukkadam police station in Coimbatore district.

Preliminary investigations had revealed that the arrested persons had conspired with the prime accused, Jameesha Mubeen, who was killed in the blast itself, to procure chemicals and other ingredients needed for fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) from online shopping platforms.

They were preparing to commit sensational terrorist acts, a NIA press note said, adding that Mubeen, after taking bayath to ISIS, had planned to carry out a suicidal attack and cause extensive damages to symbols and monuments of a particular religion with the intention of striking terror among a particular section of community.

Mubeen was killed on October 23 when his car laden with explosives blew up in front of the Kottai Easwaran temple in Coimbatore district, triggering the police investigation into what was initially thought to be a cylinder blast in the car. It was finally handed over to the NIA.

The l43 places raided on Thursday are located in eight districts - Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvallur, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, Chengalpattu and Nagapattinam of Tamil Nadu and Palakkad of Kerala.