Even as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has launched a full-scale probe into the November 10 car blast in Delhi’s Red Fort area, high alert has been sounded in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore, given the city’s past brushes with ISIS-inspired operatives.
According to reports, the Coimbatore police have approached the NIA and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to verify if any of the suspects in the Faridabad terror module, believed to be behind the blast, had visited the city earlier.
The move was prompted by patterns observed in the previous terror incident. In October 2022, Jamesha Mumbeen, a self-styled ISIS operative who acted as a suicide bomber, died in a car explosion near Kottai Sangameswarar temple in the city. The NIA has arrested 17 suspects in connection with the incident, though the agency termed it a “lone wolf” attack.
In November 2022, a cooker bomb blast took place in Mangaluru, and during the investigation, it was revealed that the prime accused, Mohammed Shariq, had visited Coimbatore and some several places in Tamil Nadu before carrying out the attack.
“We have approached the NIA and the IB to get the details of suspects in the New Delhi car blast, to ascertain whether they had visited Coimbatore earlier. Since similar incidents in the past have shown links to Tamil Nadu, we are taking no chances,” an officer told IANS news agency.
According to officials, over 140 people suspected of being radicalised are under close monitoring by the city police. The officials are also scanning social media pages for extremist content.
The police teams have also begun identifying unclaimed cars and long-abandoned vehicles parked across the city.
