Man who died in Coimbatore car LPG explosion stored low-intensity explosive material at his house: Police

An examination of the remains of the car revealed he had stored nails and marbles inside the vehicle, among other things.

According to Tamil Nadu Director General of Police Dr C Sylendra Babu, who rushed to communally sensitive Coimbatore after the explosion was reported, there are no cases registered against Mubin and they were yet to fully ascertain if he was affiliated to any organisation.

However, the deceased “was in touch with persons who have cases registered against them” and the police are currently examining these individuals.

Importantly, according to the police, Mubin was questioned once by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019. But no case was registered against him and he had not come under adverse notice.

According to highly placed sources, Mubin came on the NIA radar over his alleged ties with people named in terror attacks and issue of radicalisation.

Related: Why Coimbatore is the communal cauldron of Tamil Nadu

Police investigation on

Immediately after the explosion, top police officials, including DGP Babu, ADGP (Law and Order) Thamaraikannan, Inspector General (West Zone) R Sudhakar, Coimbatore Police Commissioner J Balakrishnan visited the spot. Forensic teams, bomb detection and disposal squads, fire and rescue teams were also called in.

Firefighters at the scene of the Coimbatore blast. (Supplied)

With Ukkadam being a communally sensitive area with a significant Muslim population, and the incident taking place on the eve of Deepavali, the road where the explosion took place was barricaded, and security was stepped up across Coimbatore district to prevent any law-and-order issue.

CCTV footage from the entire area has also been collected.

Six special teams were formed by the police to investigate the case. The police were able to identify the deceased, who was charred to death, after looking into details of the ownership of the vehicle, from where the cylinders were procured, etc.

According to the DGP, the car exchanged hands at least nine times before it came to Mubin.

Speaking to reporters in Coimbatore late in the evening on Saturday, DGP Babu said that the “target” of Mubin was unclear at the moment and more details would emerge only after further investigation.

The DGP said that Mubin was allegedly trying to escape from a police check-point which was manned by a sub-inspector and constables when the cylinder exploded.

When asked if the case would be transferred to the NIA considering the sensitive nature of information that has come out so far, the DGP stated that a decision on that would be taken once more details available.

Terror act, says BJP

The BJP and right-wing groups, which have a strong presence in Coimbatore, have termed the incident as an “act of terror”.

Taking to Twitter, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said that the Coimbatore explosion was no more a “cylinder blast”, but a “clear cut terror act with ISIS links”.

Annamalai further alleged that the accused who died during the course of planning the attack had links to ISIS and was handled from outside the country.

He mounted pressure on the DMK government, and asked Chief Minister MK Stalin to “come out of his hiding”, and called the incident a failure of state intelligence machinery and the government.

Coimbatore Cylinder blast is no more a ‘cylinder blast’. It’s a clear cut terror act with ISIS links.
Will @CMOTamilnadu come out in the open & accept this?
TN Govt is hiding this info for 12 hours now. Is this not a clear failure of the state intelligence machinery & DMK Govt?

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) October 23, 2022

(The story has been updated with the correct name and age of the deceased)