Kovai car blast: NIA gets custody of five accused till Dec 29

CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was granted custody of the five accused arrested in connection with the Coimbatore car blast incident for interrogation till December 29 by a designated court here in Poonamalee.

The five accused - B Firose Khan, 28, K Umar Farooq, 35, M Mohammed Azaruddin, 23, I Ferros, 27 and H Afsar Khan, 28 - were produced before the Poonamallee court on Tuesday and NIA was granted nine day custody of them.

So far, nine persons have been arrested in the case - six by Coimbatore police and three by NIA after the latter took over the case for further investigation.

Of the five taken to NIA custody, Umar Farooq and Firose Khan were arrested by NIA, while the other three were arrested by Coimbatore police when they were investigating the case.

Afsar Khan is a relative of the deceased Jamesha Mubin, who died in car bomb blast in the suspected suicide attack near Kottai Easwaran temple in Ukkadam area in Coimbatore on October 23, a day before Deepavali this year.

Investigation revealed that Mubin was an ISIS sympathiser and various incriminating materials seized during the searches at his house.

Meanwhile, 9 Sri Lankan men who were arrested from Trichy special camp by NIA sleuths on Tuesday in connection with an illegal drugs and arms case were produced before the magistrate in Poonamallee court and remanded in judicial custody till January 3.