In a major breakthrough, the Coimbatore City Police and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have arrested Sadiq alias Raja, one of the key suspects in the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blasts, nearly 26 years after the deadly attacks that shook the city.
Raja, now 48, was picked up in Karnataka following a tip-off about his movements. He was transported to Coimbatore on Wednesday and is currently under interrogation at the PRS campus. He is likely to be remanded to judicial custody today, officials said.
A native of Bilal Estate in Ukkadam, Raja had multiple aliases including Tailor Raja and Valarntha Raja. A frontline operative of Al-Umma, a banned extremist group led by main accused SA Basha, Raja had allegedly helped manufacture and store bombs at a rented house in Vallal Nagar, Ukkadam, used in the blasts.
Police sources said Raja had been evading arrest since 1998 and is also wanted in several murder cases registered in Nagore, Coimbatore (Race Course), and Madurai (Karimedu).
The 1998 bombings, which killed 58 people and injured over 200, were reportedly aimed at assassinating BJP leader LK Advani, who was visiting Coimbatore for an election rally.
Another suspect, Mujibur Rehman, remains at large to this day.