4 more held for radicalisation linked to 2022 Coimbatore blast

CHENNAI: Four persons were arrested in connection with radicalisation and recruitment activities across the state, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Wednesday, adding that they were linked to the 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast.

The arrested individuals were identified as Ahmed Ali, Jawahar Sathik, Raja Abdullah alias MAC Raja, and Sheik Dawood, bringing the arrest tally in this case to eight.

The anti-terror agency emphasised that the case (registered as TN ISIS Radicalisation and Recruitment Case) was an offshoot of the Coimbatore blast investigation.

The four newly arrested accused were radicalised by Jameel Basha, the founder of the Madras Arabic College (also known as Kovai Arabic College), according to the NIA. Basha, along with associates, allegedly used Arabic language classes as a cover to subtly recruit susceptible youth and indoctrinate them with Salafi-Jihadi ideology.

Basha and three associates – Irshad, Syed Abdur Rahman, and Mohammed Hussain – were previously arrested by the NIA and have already been charge-sheeted. The NIA investigation revealed that this group exploited classrooms and social media platforms for their "anti-national radicalisation and recruitment activities."

The accused actively promoted the extremist Khilafat ideology and the concept of martyrdom through jihad and advocated armed violence to overthrow India's democratically elected government for an Islamic state.

The network's radicalisation efforts were directly linked to the suicide bombing outside a Coimbatore temple in October 2022, where Jamesha Mubeen had detonated a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED).

The agency stated its investigation is ongoing as part of its mandate to combat radical terror activities threatening national security.