The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a supplementary charge sheet against five accused persons in the Coimbatore car bomb blast case of October 2022.
The five men charge-sheeted were identified as Umar Faaruq, Firose Khan, Mohamed Thoufeeq, Sheikh Hidayatullah and Sanofar Ali.
The agency had earlier charge-sheeted six suspects in April this year.
The case pertains to the explosion in front of the Kottai Sangameshwarar Temple on Eswaran Kovil Street at Ukkadam on October 23, 2022.
The vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device was driven by Jamesha Mubeen, who investigators said was inspired by the ISIS ideology to commit the act of terror. He died in the blast.
The NIA investigation has so far revealed that Jamesha Mubeen, along with Mohammed Azharudeen, Umar Faaruq, Sheikh Hidayathullah and Sanofer Ali, had conspired to carry out suicide attacks in Coimbatore. The attack “was intended to wreak revenge on the ‘Kafirs’ [non-believers]”, as stated in one of the “self-confessional videos” made a few days before the blast.
The NIA said the investigation further revealed that Azharudeen and Afsar had helped Jamesha Mubeen procure, mix and prime the explosives, while Md Talha had provided the car that was used in the crime. Ferose, Riyaz and Nawas had helped the main accused load the building blocks of the IED, including drums and gas cylinders, into the car.
The conspiracy was allegedly hatched in the forest area of Sathyamangalam in Erode district, where Umar Faaruq was elected as the ‘Amir’ (the commander) to lead the execution of the attack. He, in turn, assigned various roles to the other accused persons.
The conspirators had planned to use the remaining explosives for a series of attacks. Thoufeeq was in possession of radical books and a notepad handed over by Jamesha Mubeen containing the designs for IEDs.