Security has been increased in Coimbatore with Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel deployed across the city on Tuesday, following the incident in which a man was charred to death in in a car explosion triggered by an LPG gas cylinder blast.
The RAF has been deployed to carry out search and security operations across public areas like bus stands and railway stations.
Coimbatore City Police late on Monday night arrested five men after a man was burnt to death when the car he was in a gas cylinder fitted inside the car exploded at Ukkadam, near the famed Sangameshwarar temple in the city on Sunday morning.
The accused identified as Mohammed Dhalha, Mohammed Azarudeen, Mohammed Riyas, Feroz Ismail, and Mohammed Navaz Ismail have been remanded to police custody.
The body of the deceased recovered from the blast site has been identified as 25-year-old Jamesa Mubin.
Visuals from the CCTV footage near the house showed five people purportedly taking out a gunny bag from Mubeen's house on Saturday, police said
During a search at Mubin's residence in the Kottaimedu area in Ukkadam, police said they recovered chemicals like potassium nitrate, aluminium, and sulfur, which are used to make crude bombs. "We have also recovered nails and ball bearing from the spot where the explosion happened. We have identified the source of the cylinders and the car. This could not be a suicide attack," said state Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai claimed that it was a terror attack with an ISIS link. He also questioned the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government for state intelligence failure for the blast.
Taking to Twitter, Annamalai said, "Coimbatore Cylinder blast is no more a 'cylinder blast'. It's a clear-cut terror act with ISIS links. Will CM Stalin come out in the open and accept this? TN Govt is hiding this info for 12 hours now. Is this not a clear failure of the state intelligence machinery and DMK Govt?"
He further claimed that terror elements were active in the state.
"The accused who died during the course of planning this attack had clear-cut links to ISIS and was handled from outside the country. Still, some of the elements are active in TN soil. Go mercilessly after these nodes. CM M.K.Stalin, pls come out of your hiding and own your failure," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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