NIA chargesheets 5 accused in ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car bomb blast case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday chargesheeted five more people in the ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car bomb explosion case of 2022, an official statement said.

In its fourth supplementary chargesheet in the case, the NIA has charged Sheikh Hidayathullah, Umar Faaruq, Pavas Rahman, Sharan Mariappan and Aboo Hanifa for their involvement in terror financing and other activities linked with the terror attack that had targeted a Hindu temple, Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil, in Coimbatore, it said.

With this, a total of 17 accused have been chargesheeted in the case so far, it said.

In its latest chargesheet, the NIA has filed a fresh set of terror financing charges against Sheikh Hidayathullah and Umar Faaruq. The duo was chargesheeted earlier for other offences in the case, said the statement issued by the probe agency.

The two orchestrated a fake Covid vaccine certificate scam in 2021-2022 and used the funds to procure materials for explosives and other resources for the car bomb attack in October 2022, in which the suicide bomber who perpetrated the blast was killed, it said.

The scam was facilitated by accused Pavas Rahman and Sharan, while Aboo Hanifa had provided funds for generating fake certificates, the NIA said.

Jamesha Mubeen had carried out the suicide bombing using a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) in a modified car, it said.

He had died in the incident, and charges against him were thus abated.

According to the NIA investigation, Mubeen had pledged allegiance to ISIS's self-proclaimed Caliph, Abu-Al-Hasan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, and aimed to target non-believers as part of his extremist ideology.

The NIA investigations further revealed that prior to the attack, the accused had held meetings at the Viyyur high-security prison and Sathyamangalam reserve forest to plan the conspiracy.

"Their objective was to avenge the imprisonment of their leader, Mohammed Azharuddin, who had been arrested by NIA from Coimbatore in 2019 for promoting violent Salafi-Jihadi ideology," the statement added.