TN police nab two terror suspects who evaded arrest for three decades
Acting on a tip-off, TNs' Anti-Terrorism Squad nabbed Abubacker Siddique and Mohammed Ali, linked to multiple bomb blasts and communal murder cases, in Andhra
In a significant breakthrough, the Tamil Nadu Police have arrested two notorious fugitives, Abubacker Siddique and Mohammed Ali alias Yunus alias Mansoor, who had been evading capture for nearly three decades.
The duo, linked to multiple bomb blasts and communal murder cases across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states, was apprehended in Annamayya district, Andhra Pradesh, following a tip-off. The were also helped by the Central intelligence team in tracking down these
Siddique's cases
Abubacker Siddique, a native of Nagore, has been on the run since 1995 and is an accused in a string of high-profile terror cases.
These include the 1995 Hindu Munnani office blast in Chintadripet, Chennai; a deadly parcel bomb explosion in Nagore that killed one person, Thangam, in the same year; coordinated bomb plantings in 1999 across seven locations in Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, and Kerala, including the Chennai Police Commissioner’s Office in Egmore; a 2011 pipe bomb planting attempt during former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani’s Rath Yatra in Madurai; the 2012 murder of Dr Arvind Reddy in Vellore; and the 2013 bomb blast near the BJP office in Malleswaram, Bengaluru.
Also read: Chennai bomb threat cases transferred to TN's Anti-Terrorism Squad
Long arm of the law
Mohammed Ali, a resident of Melapalayam, Tirunelveli, absconding for 26 years, is implicated in the 1999 multi-city bomb planting incidents in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Both accused carried a reward of ₹5 lakh each for their capture.
The arrests, executed by a special team of the Tamil Nadu Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), have shown their resolve to crack long-pending cases. The suspects are to be produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.
“This operation reflects the Tamil Nadu Police’s relentless pursuit of justice, no matter how long it takes,” said a senior ATS official. Further investigations are underway to uncover additional links to their terror network.
