Why delay in transferring blast case to NIA, asks Governor; Tamil Nadu government hits back

Toeing the Bharatiya Janata Party line, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Friday termed the Coimbatore blast on October 23 as a “terrorist incident”. The governor blamed Chief Minister M K Stalin for “taking four days” to transfer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and stressed that “timing is very important” in terror acts.

Ravi also alluded that the Tamil Nadu police was being controlled by the state government and demanded that the force be given a “free hand” to function, while asking everyone to work together against terror.

In his speech at an event in Coimbatore, Ravi praised the Tamil Nadu Police as one of the “most efficient police forces” in the country and said he was a witness to its “professional competency and efficiency” when he was the deputy National Security Advisor (NSA). He said materials collated by the Tamil Nadu police on the Popular Front of India (PFI), now banned, was the “most reliable” and exhaustive among those sent by several forces in the country.

Read | Coimbatore blast: One more arrested, NIA takes over probe

Talking about the car blast in the industrial city on October 23, Ravi said it became clear within hours that it was a “terror attack”, though the state police, which he lauded for its work in the case, and the NIA, which has now taken over the investigation, hadn’t categorised the incident as that of terror.

The BJP, on the other hand, has been maintaining that the incident was a “suicide bomb attack.”

So far, six persons have been arrested for their links to Jameesha Mubin, the 25-year-old who was killed when an LPG cylinder inside the car he was travelling in exploded near a temple in the communally sensitive area of Ukkadam in Coimbatore.

Looking into terror conspiracy angle

“It was very clear from the raw materials recovered that there was a larger conspiracy. And I give credit to Tamil Nadu Police for what it did. But the question is when they got (the information) within hours, why did it take four days to (transfer the case) to the NIA. We all know that in terror attacks, timing is very important,” Ravi said.

“Tamil Nadu police did an excellent job, but the police is an instrument. Tamil Nadu police cannot communicate with NIA and ask them to come on its own. But those who were supposed to take the decision took more than three or four days. I don’t like to dwell more on it,” the Governor said.

He also sought to know what happened to the monitoring of agencies when the person who died in the blast was already under the radar.

Governor blames state government

Though the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government and Ravi have been at loggerheads for a while, this is the first time that the Tamil Nadu governor has blamed the Chief Minister, albeit without directly naming him.

In response to the governor’s statement, industries minister Thangam Thenarasu rejected all of Ravi’s allegations and said the police did an excellent job in arresting accomplices of the deceased within a day, and asserted that NIA officers were involved in the investigation from day one.

“Tamil Nadu is always known for sharing information with the concerned. Every detail was shared with NIA officers, and we have been extending cooperation to them since the beginning,” Thenarasu said, adding that Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was invoked against all the accused. He also rejected suggestions that there was any delay in referring the case to the NIA.

Although the governor criticized the chief minister for taking four days to recommend an NIA investigation, he also said the law enforcement agencies in Tamil Nadu were quite capable of handling any situation.

“They need a free hand, and they must be given that…because when it comes to terrorist attack, we don’t have to go on soft on them…. We must be clear headed, must be decisive and (act) tough in our words and actions when it comes to terror,” Ravi stated.