The car explosion in front of Sangameswarar temple in the city on October 23 has made the Coimbatore City Police expand its radar on e-commerce and courier companies.
City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan on Friday asked representatives of e-commerce companies to tip-off the police about persons, who place orders for chemicals that can be misused for making explosives.
The investigation by the city police into the blast, before the case was taken over by the National Investigation Agency, had found that the accused involved in the car blast procured chemicals such as potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal through e-commerce websites. These chemicals, along with a few other raw materials, were allegedly used for the explosion.
Also, the Saravanampatti police in the city recently arrested a fruit vendor, a native of Kovipatti, on charges of procuring the explosive materials shopping websites. He allegedly planned to make a crude explosive to attack a person with whom he had enmity.
According to the police, anti-social elements were found purchasing chemicals such as ammonium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal through e-commerce websites separately. These chemicals could be misused for the making of explosives.
Mr. Balakrishnan and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Coimbatore south) N. Silambarasan held a meeting with the representatives of e-commerce and courier companies on Friday to discuss about the dangers of such chemicals being misused and to formulate strategies to deal with the anti-social elements.
The officers said that drugs and banned tobacco products were being smuggled through courier and parcel services, too. The management of courier and parcel companies should inform the police if they come across packages containing suspicious materials.
The participants were also told to cooperate with the police when they inspect warehouses or when the police employ the dog squad for searches.
