Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai has said that the incident in the Ukkadam area of Coimbatore where a Muslim man got killed in a car when the gas cylinder fitted in the vehicle exploded has links with the Islamic terrorist outfit ISIS. BJP TN chief said that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government of the state is hiding information. Annamalai tweeted:
Coimbatore Cylinder blast is no more a ‘cylinder blast’. It’s a clear cut terror act with ISIS links. Will @CMOTamilnadu come out in the open & accept this? TN Govt is hiding this info for 12 hours now. Is this not a clear failure of the state intelligence machinery & DMK Govt?
The accused who died during the course of planning this attack had clear cut links to ISIS & was handled from outside the country. Still some of the elements are active in TN soil. Go mercilessly after these nodes. @CMOTamilnadu, pls come out of your hiding and own your failure
On October 23, 2022, a Muslim man named Jamesa Mubin got killed when a car exploded due to an LPG cylinder blast in the Ukkadam area of Coimbatore. Ukkadam is a Muslim-majority area. The blast reportedly took place near the Kottai Eshwaran Temple of Ukkadam. Mubin’s body has been sent to Coimbatore Medical College for postmortem.
“We are investigating the case. Senior forensic experts have been called to the incident spot; preservation of evidence is being done. One person has died in the incident, identity unknown”, ADG Law and Order, P Thamarai Kannan said.
“During the search at Jamesa Mubin’s residence in the Kottaimedu area in Ukkadam, we have recovered chemicals like potassium nitrate, aluminum, and sulfur, which are used to make crude bombs. We have also recovered nails and ball bearing from the spot where the explosion happened”, Director General of Police (DGP) Sylendra Babu said while talking to the media.
“He is not affiliated with any organisation. There is no case against the deceased person, but he has links with a few people under NIA’s radar. We have identified the source of the cylinders and the car. This could not be a suicide attack. The explosion happened when the nails and ball bearing were in the car. Chemicals were in his home. We are going through his call history and contacting the people who were in touch with him”, DGP further said.
The DGP added that the National Investigation Team (NIA) wasn’t needed since the investigation was proceeding well.
Earlier in July 2022, the Tamil Nadu Police arrested two Muslims of the state named Asif and Yasir Nawab, who were reportedly in touch with ISIS operatives in Syria. Later, the police arrested a Muslim engineering student named Mir Anas Ali from Ambur who was constantly connected with ISIS through Telegram and Instagram. Ali was reportedly planning to plant bombs at non-Muslim residents in the state.
