Cylinder blast near Coimbatore temple: Tamil Nadu govt seeks NIA probe

Earlier, Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu had said that Mubin may have been planning an attack. He had said they were considering all possibilities, and were not ruling out a terror plot either.

Five persons — Mohammad Dhalha (25), Mohammad Azarudheen (25), Mohammad Riyaz (27), Feroz Ismail (27) and Mohammad Navaz Ismail (27), all from Coimbatore district – have since been arrested and charged under UAPA.

Following a high-level meeting held by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday morning, the state government said it “decided to recommend to the

Union Government to direct the National Investigation Agency to take over investigation in the case, keeping in mind the possible national and international ramifications”.

Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu, Home Secretary K Phanindra Reddy, DGP Babu, and ADGP (Intelligence) Davidson Devasirvatham were among those who attended the meeting.

Police had said they had recovered “low-intensive” explosive materials including potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal from Mubin’s house. According to police, CCTV footage retrieved from a building near Mubin’s house showed four men lugging a large object out of his house in Ukkadam at 11.25 pm on Saturday. Mubin is suspected to be one of the four men. Investigators suspect the large object, wrapped in a white bag, was an LPG cylinder. Police had said the vehicle had two LPG cylinders and three big containers, but the contents of the containers could be confirmed only after getting the forensic report.

At the meeting on Wednesday, a decision was also taken to create a special force to stop such incidents and install cutting-edge security cameras in populous areas and big cities like Chennai and Coimbatore, said the state government.

Deployment of more officers to the intelligence division, security to those who provide information on people who engage in anti-social behaviour, and building three new police stations in Coimbatore neighbourhoods of Karumbu Kadai, Koundampalayam and Sundarapuram were among other decisions taken in the meeting.