Five arrested in connection with TN car explosion: Police

Coimbatore: Five persons have been arrested in connection with a car explosion in this city on Sunday, in which a man was killed, police said.

Jemisha Mubeen was killed in a cylinder explosion in a car he was travelling in early on Sunday and the police had seized material like potassium nitrate, used in making country bombs, that were meant for ”future” use.

A police release here said a case has been registered in the Ukkadam police station over the incident.

Without divulging details, it said five persons have been arrested in connection with the case and identified them as Muhammad Talka, Muhammed Azharuddin, Muhammed Riyaz, Firoze Ismail and Muhammed Nawaz Ismailm, all in their 20s. Meanwhile, the BJP state unit raised a number of questions over the Sunday incident, and claimed police has not divulged the specifics regarding the seizure made at Jubeen’s house.

The party’s state president K Annamalai blamed ”intelligence failure” for the incident and questioned why the police did not specify the reason for the arrest of the five persons and the IPC sections against them. Without divulging details, Annamalai said he has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Sunday explosion.

”How long will it take for the Chief Minister to accept the Intelligence has failed…bring professionals back to the force…the Home department had solid professionals, with those good in counter-terrorism, prior to 2021,” Annamalai said, addressing a press conference here.

The DMK came to power winning the 2021 elections and chief minister M K Stalin holds the Home portfolio. After the DMK came to power, the priorities have changed, he indicated.

Annamalai expressed apprehensions if the Sunday explosion was some kind of a ”suicide attack,” and claimed the western region of the state, comprising the industrial city of Coimbatore among others, was in the radar of ”the ISIS.”