ED searches 16 locations in 2022 Coimbatore blast terror funding case

Officials of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Chennai Zonal Office, conducted searches at 16 locations across Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai in connection with a money laundering investigation into the alleged terror funding of the 2022 Coimbatore bomb blast incident.

The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of various FIRs registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the suicide bomb explosion that occurred in 2022 near Sangameshwarar Temple, Coimbatore. ED sources said the attack was carried out by Jamesha Mubeen (suicide bomber) and others as an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack using a modified Maruti car loaded with explosive substances.

To fund their terror activities, the accused carried out two prominent methods: firstly, they ran a fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate scam during the lockdown period, where funds were generated from people who wanted fake vaccine certificates without the actual vaccination; and secondly, through donations/fraudulent investments in the Kovai Arabic College, which was allegedly deeply involved in the radicalisation of youth.

Investigations further revealed that 12 accused persons in the bomb blast case, including Jamesha Mubeen, had attended sessions conducted by the Kovai Arabic College through online/offline modes. They were mentored by a person named Jameel Basha, promoter of the Kovai Arabic College, after which they got indoctrinated in the Salafi-Jihadi ideology and conspired to commit the terror attack in support of the proscribed terror organisation ISIS, the ED said.