Chennai, Oct 25 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has commenced the preliminary investigation into the car blast in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore, suspects a planning of a terror strike similar to Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings in South India.
However, sources in Tamil Nadu Police told IANS that this conspiracy angle was not confirmed. The sources said that the presence of Al Uma founder S.A. Bashas’ brother Navas Khan’s son, Mohamed Talik, has given a clear indication that a major conspiracy angle was behind the car blast. The police are investigating whether the car blast was a direct suicide attack or whether the gas cylinder explosion was accidental.
An explosion happened at 4 a.m. on Sunday near the famous Eeswaran temple at Ukkadam. The body of a 25-year-old Jameesha Mubin was recovered from the blast site.
The Tamil Nadu Police have arrested five accused in the car blast case, said officials here on Tuesday. The arrested have been identified as Mohammed Talka, Mohammed Azharuddin, Mohamed Navas Ismail, Mohammed Riyas and Firoze Ismail.
Ukkadam is a highly sensitive area of Coimbatore and was the centre of action in the 1996 Coimbatore blasts leading to the death of 56 people and injuring more than 200.