Coimbatore car blast: Five associates of deceased arrested

In a meticulously planned operation and pursuing various leads and the CCTV footage, police arrested the five late on Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

The five arrested were Muhammad Thalka (25), Muhammad Azharudheen (23) of Ukkadam, Muhammad Riyas (27), Firoz Ismail (27) and Muhammad Nawaz Ismail (27) hailing from G. M. Nagar near Ukkadam.

Sources said that Thalka was the one who had arranged the car used by Mubin, which exploded in front of the Kottai Eswaran temple at 4 am Sunday, when one of the two LPG cylinders--said to be

Thirty-five kg commercial cylinders--exploded killing Mubin on the spot and his body charred beyond recognition.

In a related development, police conducted raids at the residence of one, Nawab Khan, who is the brother of Al Ummah founder Basha--the main accused in the 1998 bomb blasts at Coimbatore in which 58 people were killed and more than 200 injured.

Reports said that the searches at Nawab Khan's house followed information that Mubin might have links with him.

Soon after identifying the deceased as that of Mujib, police conducted searches at his residence and found a huge cache of explosive materials, including potassium nitrate, aluminium powder, sulphur and charcoal, besides nails and ball bearings, which were used to make country bombs.

“Going by the materials seized from his house, this (materials in the car like nails and marbles, which were also found scattered at the blast site) could have been meant for a possible plan (for attack) in the future”, DGP C.Sylendra Babu had said.

He said that Mubin did not have involvement in any case in Coimbatore unlike some of his friends. His contacts, social media activities, among others, are being examined.

Nonetheless police sources claimed that the NIA had once questioned Mubin in 2019.

Reports from Coimbatore revealed that Mubin was an associate of Mohammed Azharuddin, who was now lodged in Kerala jail in connection with an IS case.

Azharuddin was a Facebook friend of Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind of 2019 Easter church bombing in Sri Lanka, in which more than 250 people were killed.