New Delhi [India], July 30 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at 16 locations across Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Telangana as part of a money laundering investigation into the alleged terror financing of the 2022 Coimbatore bomb blast.
The searches, conducted by the ED’s Chennai Zonal Office, began early Thursday and covered locations in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad in Telangana, and Mumbai in Maharashtra. The premises searched are linked to suspects connected to the case.
The ED launched its investigation based on multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the 2022 suicide bombing near the Sangameshwarar Temple in Coimbatore. According to investigators, the attack was carried out by suicide bomber Jamesha Mubeen and others in what authorities have described as an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack using a modified Maruti car loaded with explosive materials.
“To fund their terror activities, the accused carried out two prominent methods. Firstly, they ran a fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate scam during the pandemic, where funds were generated from people seeking fake vaccination certificates without receiving actual vaccinations. Secondly, they raised funds through donations and fraudulent investments in Kovai Arabic College, which was deeply involved in the radicalization of youths,” officials familiar with the investigation told ANI.
Investigators further alleged that 12 accused in the bomb blast case, including Mubeen, attended sessions at Kovai Arabic College through online and offline modes. According to the investigation, they were mentored by Jameel Basha, the promoter of the college, after which they were allegedly indoctrinated into Salafi-jihadi ideology and conspired to carry out the terror attack in support of the banned terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
In April 2025, the NIA filed its fourth supplementary chargesheet naming five additional individuals in the ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car bomb blast case, in which the suicide bomber was killed.
In the chargesheet filed in case RC-01/2022/NIA/CHE, the NIA charged Sheikh Hidayathullah, Umar Faaruq, Pavas Rahman, Sharan Mariappan, and Aboo Hanifa with alleged involvement in terror financing and other activities linked to the October 2022 attack targeting the Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil in Coimbatore.
With that filing, the total number of accused chargesheeted in the case reached 17.
According to the NIA, additional terror financing charges were filed against Sheikh Hidayathullah and the alleged mastermind of the attack, Umar Faaruq. Investigators alleged that the two orchestrated a fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate scam during 2021 and 2022, using the proceeds to procure explosive materials and other resources for the car bomb attack.
The NIA alleged that the scam was facilitated by accused Pavas Rahman and Sharan Mariappan, while Aboo Hanifa provided funds to generate fake vaccination certificates.
According to the NIA investigation, Mubeen carried out the suicide bombing using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) concealed in a modified Maruti car. He died in the explosion, and the charges against him were subsequently abated.
The NIA has alleged that Mubeen pledged allegiance to ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, and intended to target non-believers as part of his extremist ideology.
The agency further alleged that, before the attack, the accused held meetings at Viyyur High-Security Prison and the Sathyamangalam Reserve Forest to plan the conspiracy. According to the NIA, their objective was to avenge the imprisonment of their leader, Mohammed Azharuddin, who was arrested by the agency in Coimbatore in 2019 for allegedly promoting violent Salafi-jihadi ideology. (ANI)
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