Coimbatore, Nov 13 (IANS) In the wake of the November 10 car blast in Delhi, the Coimbatore City Police and the Tamil Nadu Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have approached the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to verify whether any of the suspects involved had travelled to or established links with Coimbatore.

The move comes amid heightened security concerns, given the city’s past brushes with ISIS-inspired operatives.

A senior Coimbatore City Police officer said the alert was triggered by patterns observed in previous terror incidents. “We have approached the NIA and the IB to get the details of suspects in the New Delhi car blast, to ascertain whether they had visited Coimbatore earlier. Since similar incidents in the past have shown links to Tamil Nadu, we are taking no chances,” the officer said.

Coimbatore has been on the national terror map since the October 23, 2022, car bomb explosion near the Kottai Sangameswarar Temple, in which suicide bomber and self-radicalised ISIS sympathiser Jamesha Mubeen was killed. The NIA had termed it a “lone wolf” attack, though the agency had arrested 17 individuals for aiding and abetting the terror plot.

Security concerns deepened further after the November 2022 Mangaluru cooker bomb blast, in which the accused, Mohammed Shariq, was found to have travelled through Coimbatore and several other places in Tamil Nadu before carrying out the attack.

Investigators believe Shariq’s movements indicated attempts to build networks or acquire logistical support. “Considering these past incidents, we are on high alert again,” the officer added.

To strengthen surveillance, Coimbatore Police are relying on Octopus, a specialised software used to store and analyse data of suspects.

According to officials, around 140 individuals suspected of being radicalised are currently under close monitoring by the city police. A dedicated media monitoring cell continues to scan social media platforms for signs of extremist content or suspicious online activity.

As part of preventive measures, police teams have also begun identifying unclaimed cars and long-abandoned vehicles parked across the city. These are being catalogued and removed to eliminate potential threats.

Sources in the ATS confirmed that they are coordinating closely with the NIA to obtain details of the seven suspects linked to the New Delhi blast. “We are awaiting detailed profiles. Any link to Coimbatore will be acted upon immediately,” a senior ATS officer said.

With intelligence agencies stepping up information exchange, security has been intensified across Coimbatore as authorities work to ensure there are no local connections to the Delhi blast.

-IANS

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