NIA carries out searches in TN, Kerala, Karnataka in connection with blasts in Coimbatore, Mangaluru
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka on Wednesday in connection with two cases of blasts in Coimbatore and Mangaluru, its official spokesperson said.
The searches were carried out at 40 places -- 32 in connection with the Coimbatore car bomb blast and eight linked to the Mangaluru blast.
One of the cases relates to a bomb blast in a car laden with explosives in front of Kottai Eswaran Temple in Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu.
The accused, Jamesha Mubeen, after swearing "Bayath" (allegiance) to the ISIS, was planning to carry out a suicide attack on October 23 last year and cause extensive damage to the temple complex with the intention to strike terror among a section of the society, the agency spokesperson said.
The second case relates to a pressure cooker bomb blast that took place in a moving auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru City in Karnataka on November 19 last year.
The blast occurred when the accused was carrying the improvised explosive device for planting it in a public place.
The searches led to the seizure of a large number of digital devices and Rs 4 lakh in cash, the spokesperson said, adding further investigations in these two cases are on.
The searches linked to the Coimbatore case were carried out in 32 places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala -- Coimbatore (14), Trichy (1), Nilgiris (2), Tirunelveli (3), Tuticorin (1), Chennai (3), Thiruvannamalai (2), Dindigul (1), Mayiladuthurai (1), Krishnagiri (1), Kanyakumari (1), Tenkasi (1) and Ernakulam (1).
The agency carried out searches in eight places in connection with the Mangaluru case -- Tiruppur (2) and Coimbatore (1) of Tamil Nadu, Ernakulam (4) of Kerala, and Mysuru (1) of Karnataka.
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‘Take all the cameras and leave’: Israel raids Al Jazeera office in West Bank
Ramallah: The Israel Army raided the offices of Al Jazeera in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday and ordered the bureau to shut down.
Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers forcefully entered the building where Al Jazeera’s bureau is and handed the 45-day closure order to the network’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari, reported Al Jazeera. However, they did not give a reason for the decision.
Israeli soldiers reportedly began to confiscate documents and equipments in the office while tear gas and gunshots were heard in the premises. Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim remarked that the raid and closure order “comes as no surprise,” adding that the Israeli officials have been threatening to close down the bureau.
“There is a court ruling for closing Al Jazeera for 45 days. I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment,” an Israeli soldier was reportedly heard as saying in a live footage broadcasted by the channel.
In response to the incident, al-Omari stated that such actions against journalists are aimed at “erasing the truth and preventing people from hearing the truth.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza has called on media organisations and human rights groups worldwide to condemn this action, labelling it a “deafening scandal” and a blatant violation of press and media freedom.
The raid comes months after Israel banned Al Jazeera from operating inside the country in May, alleging that it threatened national security.
