Muslim Community Leaders Visit Temple Near Coimbatore Blast Site

Leaders of the Muslim Jamath on Thursday visited the site of the car cylinder blast near the Sangameswarar temple in Coimbatore and held a discussion with the temple priests.

Tension gripped the area after the blast in which a man was charred to death. Tamil Nadu police have so far arrested six people in connection with the case, and have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Those arrested are learned to be associates of Jameesha Mubin, who was charred to death after an LPG cylinder inside the car he was driving exploded near a temple around 4 am on October 23.

"We have been living in this area for the past 200 years, and this Kottaimedu is surrounded by mosques, temples and churches. We live together in a friendly manner and we will not give space to anyone to create division with us and you all know the incident that happened here. We strongly condemn this act in this area and we had decided to create communal harmony in this area. With this today we leaders from Sunnath jamaths had come here to meet the Sangameswarar temple authorities," Inayatullah General secretary Sunnath Jamaths said.

He said that the people involved in the blast do not belong to any Jamaths. "Today we met the temple authority and asked about the situation and we live for peace and tranquillity in the Coimbatore region," he said.

He further said that a political panic situation prevails against minorities not only in Coimbatore but also across the country.

"We urge the political leaders to create communal harmony and peace in the country and they should come forward to create peace in this country," he added.

According to the police, Mubin, 25, who was an engineering graduate, was previously questioned by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in 2019 for alleged terror links. His name is mentioned as the primary accused in the case.

Five people arrested on Monday (October 24) night were Mohammad Thalka, 25, Mohammad Asarudheen, 25, Muhammad Riyaz, 27, Feroz Ismail, 27, and Mohammad Navaz Ismail, 27. The sixth person, identified as Afsar Khan, a relative of Mubin, was arrested on October 27.

The Tamil Nadu police has handed over the documents of the case to NIA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)