Most-Wanted Coimbatore Blast Suspect 'Tailor Raja' Arrested After 26 Years On The Run

Tamil Nadu Police have arrested Sadiq, also known by multiple aliases including Raja, Tailor Raja, Valarntha Raja, Shahjahan Abdul Majid Makandar, and Shahjahan Shaik, a key accused in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast case and several communal murder cases across Tamil Nadu, the New Indian Express reported.

The Coimbatore City Police, in coordination with the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), apprehended the suspect in Karnataka and brought him to Coimbatore.

The arrested individual is aged 48, a resident of Bilal Estate in Ukkadam, Coimbatore.

Raja had been evading arrest since 1998 and was reportedly nabbed following a tip-off about his movements in Karnataka.

He is currently being interrogated at the PRS (Police Recruit School) campus and is expected to be remanded to judicial custody today.

The ATS is continuing with further investigations.

Raja, a frontline member of the now-banned outfit Al-Umma, allegedly played a key role in the 1998 bombings that shook Coimbatore.

He was a tailor by profession and had rented a house in Vallal Nagar, Ukkadam, which was allegedly used by extremists to manufacture and store the explosives used in the blasts.

He is one of four suspects declared wanted by the CB-CID in connection with the case.

In addition to his involvement in the blasts, Raja is facing multiple murder charges filed at Nagore police station, Race Course police station in Coimbatore, and Karimedu police station in Madurai.

Another accused in the case, Mujibur Rehman from Oppanakkara Street, remains absconding since February 1998.

The 1998 serial blasts were allegedly planned to assassinate BJP leader LK Advani during his visit to Coimbatore for an election rally.

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