TN explosion: Intention not to trouble govt or police but seek corrective measure, says Annamalai
Coimbatore (PTI): The BJP's intention was not to trouble the Tamil Nadu government or the state police over the October 23 fatal car explosion in the city but make them take corrective measures and also expedite the probe, the saffron party's state president K Annamalai said on Monday.
The TN BJP chief, who has raised a number of questions vis-a-vis the probe into the matter, which has since been transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), alleged there was specific systematic failure in preventing the incident, despite central intelligence inputs over the movement of 'radicalised' youths.
"I don't want to give trouble" to the government and police but he was raising the questions in the interest of the state and for expediting the probe, Annamalai told reporters here.
Reiterating the Centre had given specific alert to three states and three cities, including Coimbatore, Annamalai said the state government and the police, instead of announcing it just as a cylinder explosion, should have described it as a terror attack or suicide attack so that the people of the city could be more alert.
A man, identified as Jamesha Mubin, had been charred to death in the gas cylinder explosion in the car near a temple in the city last Sunday,with the BJP claiming it to be a terror attack and the victim as an ISIS sympathiser.
"Despite the alert and also knowing that Mubin was under NIA radar since 2019, along withy 96 other who were close to ISIS, police failed to trace his movement," he said adding that prevention of crime wuld have been better than detection.
This could be due to communication failure, as the intelligence agency and its sister agency in Tamil Nadu failed to act on the alert from the Centre on October 18, Annamalai said while displaying nails and ball-bearing allegedly found from the explosion site and appreciated the city police for rushing the spot and solving it swiftly.
It was not top officials but lower level personnel, who rushed to the site and managed to solve the case, he said.
Earlier, Annamalai visited the site and the temple and held discussions with the temple pritest.
He along with over 100 BJP cadres squatted on the temple premises and recited Kanda Sashti Kavacham, a hymn sung in praise of Lord Muruga and offered prayers to the Kottai Eswaran, the presiding deity.
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Belur: Two women working in coffee plantation sustain severe injuries in wild elephant attack
Hassan: Two women working in a coffee plantation in Belur taluk were grievously injured in a wild elephant attack while on the way to work on Monday morning. The women are being treated at the Hassan District Hospital.
The injured women, Hema (38) and Geetha (40), were employed at the Bikkodu Estate and were going to work when they were attacked. The elephant reportedly lifted one of the women with its trunk before dashing her aside and also trampled the workers.
As a result, the women sustained severe injuries, Geetha being injured on her stomach and head and Hema on her face and right hand. The workers were taken immediately to the Belur government hospital and later shifted to the Hassan District Hospital.
The forest officers have visited the hospital and inquired about the health condition of Hema and Geetha. The farmers and coffee plantation owners in Bikkodu and nearby areas have again expressed worry about the problem of wild elephant attack in the area. They have also urged the Forest Department to take necessary steps in the matter for the safety of the residents.
