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It was back in October in the year 2022 when the ugly eruption took place in the Ukkadam area of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. One car exploded next to the Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar temple, killing the driver on the spot. The dead person was later identified as Jamesha Mubeen, 29. What initially appeared to be a mysterious accident eventually came out as a major terror case, with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) confirming that this deceased individual had actually committed suicide by explosion. He had packed the car with gas cylinders, explosives, and other materials and even pledged allegiance to ISIS before the act.
NIA Names Five More in the Case
On Thursday, the NIA filed another set of charges—its fourth supplementary chargesheet in this case. Five more people have now been accused of helping plan and fund the attack. Their names are Sheikh Hidayathullah, Umar Faaruq, Pavas Rahman, Sharan Mariappan, and Aboo Hanifa. With this latest move, a total of 17 people have been chargesheeted so far in connection to the blast.
A Fake COVID Vaccine Scam Was Used to Fund the Attack
According to the NIA, two of the key accused—Sheikh Hidayathullah and Umar Faaruq—were already named earlier, but now they’ve also been charged for terror financing. Investigators say they ran a fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate scam in 2021 and 2022. The money they made from selling those fake certificates was used to buy materials for the bomb and other stuff needed for the attack.
The scam wasn’t done alone. Pavas Rahman and Sharan Mariappan reportedly helped carry it out, while Aboo Hanifa chipped in with money to fund the fake certificate operation.
The Suicide Bomber Died in the Blast
Jamesha Mubeen, who was driving the car when it exploded, was the only one killed in the blast. Since he died in the act, no charges have been filed against him. The NIA says he had pledged allegiance to ISIS’s then-leader, Abu-Al-Hasan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi. He believed in ISIS’s violent ideology and had aimed to attack people who didn’t share his beliefs.
The NIA found that the planning for this attack had been going on for a while. The accused reportedly held secret meetings at the Viyyur High-Security Prison and in the Sathyamangalam Reserve Forest. Their main goal was to take revenge for the arrest of their leader, Mohammed Azharuddin, who was nabbed by the NIA in 2019 for promoting a radical ideology and recruiting people for ISIS.
