Threat to kill PM Modi: Coimbatore man detained under National Security Act

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore police on Monday detained Mohammed Rafiq, 53, of Saramedu near Karumbukadai, under the National Security Act (NSA) after he was arrested on April 23 for allegedly boasting about his plan to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a telephonic conversation with Salem-based truck contractor Prakash, the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blasts convict was heard saying he was planning to kill the Prime Minister.
City police commissioner K Periaiah issued the order to detain Rafiq under the NSA. A copy of the order would be served to him in the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital where he is undergoing treatment for a heart ailment.

After his arrest on April 23, Rafiq was lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison. Police seized a mobile phone from him.

On May 7, Rafiq suffered a heart attack and was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for treatment.

Kuniyamuthur (law and order) police inspector T H Ganesh and his team conducted a search at a house belonging to Rafiq.

Rafiq is a convict in the 1998 serial bomb blast case. He again had tried to disturb the communal harmony in the city by planning to kill the Prime Minister, the investigating team said. The inspector requested the city police commissioner to detain Rafiq under the NSA.

Rafiq was the 105th accused in the serial bomb blast case that rocked the city on February 14, 1998.The blasts claimed the lives of more than 50 people. He was also member of banned Al-Umma outfit. His brother Ozir was also accused in the bomb blast case.

Rafiq had given his house in Tippu Nagar in the city to Ozir and Mohammed Ali Khan alias Kutty and few others for making pipe bombs. Rafiq was arrested by the CB-CID - Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 1998. He was released from the prison in 2007.

In 2014, the Kuniyamuthur police arrested him in connection with a few cheating cases. He was detained under the Goondas Act in the same year.