A year after the car blast in front of Sangameswarar temple at Kottaimedu in Coimbatore, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a 14th person for alleged involvement in the attack that involved men inspired by the Islamic State (IS) ideology.
Thaha Naseer (27), a resident of Madina Avenue in Thirumalai Nagar near Podanur, was apprehended by NIA sleuths from Coimbatore on Thursday, November 2, 2023. The agency took him to Chennai where his arrest was recorded.
Sources said Naseer, who worked as a painter at the service centre of a car franchise in Coimbatore, had met Jamesha Mubeen (29), the mastermind of the car bomb explosion, a few days before the attack. He spent about an hour with Mubin at the latter’s rented house, which was around 350 metres away from the Sangameswarar temple. The explosive materials, which were used to make the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) that exploded in front of the temple, were stored at the house. Naseer is also alleged to have met Mubin a day before the attack.
