Around 170 kg of materials, including explosive raw materials, which were seized by the police from the residence of Jameesha Mubin, the key conspirator of the early morning car blast in front of the Sangameswarar temple here on October 23 last, were destroyed on Monday. Mubin had died in the blast.
An official privy to the development said 50 kg of black powder and around 120 kg of other materials, including fertilizer, were destroyed in a controlled environment near Sulur in a joint exercise supervised by officials of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of the Tamil Nadu police. The materials were destroyed in keeping with instructions from a court.
Prior to NIA handover
The Coimbatore City Police, who handled the case before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the probe, had seized these materials from Mubin’s rented residence at H.M.P.R. Street, which is about 350 metres from the temple at Kottaimedu.
According to the First Information Report of the NIA, a total of 109 articles, including potassium nitrate, black powder, match box, a cracker fuse to a length of two metres, nitroglycerin, red phosphorus, pentaerythritol tetranitrate powder, aluminium powder, portable oxygen cylinder, sulphur powder, glass marbles, gas regulator, batteries, wires, iron nails, switch, insulation tape, packing tape, hand glove and notebooks with details of Islamic ideology and jihad were recovered from the house.
The police had arrested six of Mubin’s alleged accomplices. The NIA arrested five more accused persons. They are accused of having procured the materials through various sources, including e-commerce websites. The car used for the blast was loaded with a mixture of explosives in three small metal drums, along with two LPG cylinders and nails and glass marbles as shrapnel.
Mubin’s wife gives statement
A magistrate court in Coimbatore on Monday recorded the statement of Mubin’s wife H. Nazareth under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Her statement was recorded with the assistance of a sign language expert as she has speech and hearing impairment.
