CHENNAI– In a major breakthrough in the long-pending Coimbatore serial bomb blasts case, Tamil Nadu police have arrested “Tailor” Raja, one of the prime accused who had been on the run for 27 years.
Raja, 50, was apprehended on Wednesday in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district by a joint team of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Coimbatore City Police. He was brought to Coimbatore under tight security and produced before the Fifth Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday, where he was remanded to judicial custody until July 24.
His real name is believed to be Shahjahan Abdul Majid Makandar, and he is also known by aliases including Sadiq, “Valarntha” Raja, and Shahjahan Shaik.
A long-time operative of the banned terrorist organization Al Ummah, Raja is accused of playing a key role in the February 14, 1998, Coimbatore serial bomb blasts. The attacks killed 58 people and injured more than 250 others, and were allegedly part of an attempt to assassinate senior BJP leader L. K. Advani, who was scheduled to speak at an election rally.
The coordinated blasts occurred at multiple locations across Coimbatore, marking one of Tamil Nadu’s deadliest terror attacks.
According to police sources, Raja is originally from Bilal Estate in South Ukkadam, Coimbatore. He had reportedly gone underground as early as 1996 and had successfully evaded capture for nearly three decades, despite being linked to several violent incidents.
In addition to the 1998 blasts, Raja is suspected of involvement in other high-profile cases, including the 1996 Molotov cocktail attack in Coimbatore that killed jail warder Boopalan, the murder of Sayeetha in Nagore the same year, and the 1997 killing of jailor Jayaprakash in Madurai.
His arrest follows the recent captures of two other long-absconding accused in Al Ummah-related cases: Abubacker Siddique and Mohamed Ali alias Yunus, both arrested in Andhra Pradesh’s Annamayya district.
“This is the third major arrest of a long-absconding accused in recent months and represents a significant step forward in delivering justice to the victims of terror,” a senior police officer said.
Authorities are hopeful that Raja’s interrogation will shed new light on dormant terror networks and sleeper cells of Al Ummah that once operated in Tamil Nadu. (Source: IANS)
