The NIA team made plans to visit the house of Jamesa Mubeen, who was killed in the blast (Representational)
Coimbatore:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday officially launched a probe into the cylinder blast in a car that killed a man in front of a temple in the city on October 23.
Police said that a team of NIA officers, led by NIA Superintendent of Police Sreejit, visited the spot and inspected the area around the temple and collected further evidence.
Police said they questioned the priest of Kottai Easwaran Temple, Sundaresan about the incident.
The team plans to visit the home of the blast victim, Jamesa Mubeen, a few meters from the site.
The city police, which probed the case, on Saturday handed over all the evidence and documents in connection with the blast to the NIA after the Tamil Nadu government decided to hand over the probe to the premier investigating agency probing terrorism-related cases.
NIA has been temporarily allotted an office space in the premises of Armed Reserve at Police Recruits School, Awanashi Road. The police said there are 7 officers headed by an inspector as the investigating officer.
He said more than 10 police personnel were provided to assist the NIA in the investigation.
A cylinder explosion in a car in the communally sensitive Ukkadam area in the early hours sent shock waves here and across the state, with Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi terming it an attempt to commit a terror act.
Police had earlier recovered 75 kg of low-intensity explosive material, which is used in making country bombs, as part of their investigation, even as six people have been arrested so far in connection with the blast.
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