New Delhi, April 21
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) chargesheeted five more persons in the ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car bomb explosion case of 2022, in which the suicide bomber who perpetrated the blast was killed.
In its fourth supplementary chargesheet in the case 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 in October 2022. With this, a total of 17 accused have been chargesheeted in the case so far.
In its latest chargesheet, NIA has filed a fresh set of charges for terror financing against Sheikh Hidayathullah and the attack’s Amir, Umar Faaruq, both of whom had been chargesheeted earlier for other offences in the case. The two accused had orchestrated a fake COVID vaccine certificate scam in 2021-2022, using the funds earned from the scam to procure materials for explosives and other resources for the car bomb attack. The scam was facilitated by accused Pavas Rahman and Sharan, while Aboo Hanifa had provided funds for generating fake certificates.
Jamesha Mubeen had carried out the suicide bombing using a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) in a modified Maruti car. He had died in the incident, and charges against him were thus abated. As per 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.
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.
