Centre tasks NIA with Coimbatore blast probe, BJP targets DMK govt

New Delhi/Coimbatore: The Centre on Thursday decided to hand over to the NIA the probe into the recent blast near a temple in Coimbatore and one more man was arrested in the case, officials said.

While the DMK regime accused the BJP of trying to blow the explosion incident out of proportion, the Saffron party said Central intelligence forewarned the state and asked why the Tamil Nadu government was "caught napping."

An official said in Delhi that the Union home ministry has decided to hand over the Coimbatore blast case to the National Investigation Agency.

TN Director General of Police, C Sylendra Babu told reporters in Coimbatore that evidence related to the case would be handed over soon to the NIA.

The Centre's move follows Chief Minister M K Stalin's recommendation for an investigation by the NIA into the Deepavali eve blast.

Police said it has arrested one more man, Afsar Khan, a Coimbatore resident who had helped Jameesha Mubeen, his relative, in the purchase of a large quantity of explosive materials from e-commerce platforms. Khan is the sixth man to be arrested and a team of NIA officials are in the southern state in connection with the case.

Sylendra Babu and top police officials held a discussion with the NIA sleuths and assured them of full support in their investigation. Explosives were seized in Coimbatore from the residence of 29-year-old Mubeen who was killed after a gas cylinder stored in a car driven by him exploded.

The explosion occurred while Mubeen was moving past a temple on a car in Tamil Nadu's western textile city and he had tried to evade a police check post.