Tamil Nadu Car Blast: Police Invokes UAPA, BJP Wants To Term It ‘Suicide Attack’

The investigation into Coimbatore car blast in Tamil Nadu took a new turn today as the sections of anti-terror law UAPA have been invoked. According to the Police, around 50 kg of explosives were found from the residence of the accused Jemisha Mubeen, who were allegedly carrying two open gas cylinders in his car in the early morning of October 23, when one of them exploded near Kottai Eswaran Temple in Ukkadam leading to his death.

During its investigation in the last two days, the Police found sufficient clues to invoke sections of UAPA, reports said. As the anti-terror law is a scheduled offence under the National Investigating Agency (NIA) act, the central probe agency is expected to take over the investigation from TN Police.

However, amidst political cries for action, Police today arrested 5 persons namely Muhammad Talka, Muhammed Azharuddin, Muhammed Riyaz, Firoze Ismail and Muhammed Nawaz Ismailm, all in their 20s in connection with the case. The police have not yet divulged any significant detail about the accused.

Early Investigation and Clues

The state police started investigating the terror angle as they found a CCTV footage where five men were found carrying a gunny bag from the house of Jemisha Mubeen. The CCTV footage was from Saturday, a day prior to the blast.

State Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu on Monday said low-intensive “explosive material including potassium nitrate”, used in making country bombs, were recovered from the house of Mubeen, reports PTI.

Police then also started questioning seven people in connection to the case, depending on their contacts with Mubeen. Based on their investigation, they brought in an Auto-rickshaw driver from Coonoor in nearby Nilgiris district for interrogation. They found trace of his phone signal in the locality during the time of explosion. Interestingly, he was residing in the locality for the last four months.

Jemisha Mubeen, the main accused in the explosion case was earlier interrogated by NIA in 2019 for his alleged link with ISIS. Mubeen, a 25-year-old was an engineering graduate.

Tamil Nadu BJP terms it ‘Suicide Attack’

Expressing their discontent over the actions of the Police, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai wrote a letter to union home minister Amit Shah saying that the state police have to accept the explosion as a case of ‘suicide attack’.

Referring to a WhatsApp status given by Mubeen on October 21, the letter notes that it was similar to ISIS. The letter also complained against the police for not disclosing the details of the 5 arrested and said, “Police haven't said why they have arrested 5 people. On behalf of TN BJP, we've written a letter to Union Home Minister regarding this blast. The police have to accept this as a 'suicide attack’.”

Claiming the NIA investigation Annamalai said, “We’re looking forward to the state police in itself transferring this case to NIA so that NIA can act faster. I have also written a letter to home minister Amit Shah on the issue and asking this case to be shifted to NIA.”

Communalisation of the Issue?

Immediately after the blast, a Hindu organisation namely the Hindu Munnani asked the police to look into the conspiracy angle. Speaking to the media Hindu Munnani state president Kadeswara Subramaniam said that the police must check whether it was an effort to spread riots or it was merely an accident.

Throwing their hats into the ring, the principal opposition of the state AIADMK also came affront against the DMK supreme and the Chief Minister M K Stalin and called for an independent probe to find whether it was part of a larger conspiracy. AIADMK interim general secretary and Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition K Palaniswami while training his guns against the CM said, “Whenever the DMK assumes power in Tamil Nadu, instances of bomb blasts become routine and recurring.”

From the very beginning of the investigation, Police was someway or other directed toward the conspiracy angle by either Hindu organisations or the political parties. The case as per the convention is all set to be transferred to NIA.