NIA arrests four more in radicalisation linked to Coimbatore car bomb blast

CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said that four persons were arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into radicalization and recruitment activities in Tamil Nadu, linked to the 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Ahmed Ali, Jawahar Sathik, Raja Abdullah @ MAC Raja, and Sheik Dawood. This brings the total number of arrests in this specific case to eight.

The NIA emphasized that this case (Registered as TN ISIS Radicalization and Recruitment Case) is an offshoot of the Coimbatore blast investigation.

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

Jameel Basha and three associates – Irshath, 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 radicalization and recruitment activities."

The accused actively promoted the extremist Khilafat ideology and the concept of martyrdom through jihad.

They advocated violence and armed struggle with the stated aim of overthrowing India's democratically elected government and establishing an Islamic state.

This network's radicalization efforts are directly linked to the October 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blas. In that attack, suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen detonated a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) outside an ancient temple in Coimbatore.

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