ATS Arrests Tamil Nadu’s Most-Wanted Terror Suspects From Annamayya District After 30 Years on The Run
Siddique is linked to a series of major terror incidents, including the 1995 bomb blast at the Hindu Munnani office in Chintadripet, Chennai, and the same year’s parcel bomb attack in Nagore that killed right-wing activist T. Muthukrishnan: Reports
TIRUPATI: Tamil Nadu’s most wanted terror suspect and explosives expert, Abubakkar Siddique, was arrested on Tuesday from a remote area in Annamayya district, bringing to an end a nearly 30-year-long manhunt. Alongside him, Mohammed Ali, another long-time fugitive also known as Yunus or Mansoor, was taken into custody. Both were wanted in several high-profile terror cases across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states and carried a reward of ₹5 lakh each.
The arrests were made by a special team of the Tamil Nadu anti-terrorism squad (ATS) acting on specific intelligence inputs. Siddique, a native of Nagore, and Ali, a resident of Melapalayam in Tirunelveli, had been evading arrest since the 1990s. Siddique, now aged 60, is regarded as one of the most dangerous terror operatives from TN and is known to have mentored several militants including Bilal Malik, Police Fakruddin and Panna Ismail.
Siddique is linked to a series of major terror incidents, including the 1995 bomb blast at the Hindu Munnani office in Chintadripet, Chennai, and the same year’s parcel bomb attack in Nagore that killed right-wing activist T. Muthukrishnan. Politician said he was also involved in the 1999 coordinated bomb planting across seven locations, including the police commissioner’s office in Chennai’s Egmore, and sites in Trichy, Coimbatore and Kerala.
He is also accused in the 2011 failed pipe bomb attack aimed at BJP leader L.K. Advani during his Rath Yatra in Madurai, the 2012 murder of Dr Arvind Reddy in Vellore and the 2013 bomb blast near the BJP office in Malleshwaram, Bengaluru. Mohammed Ali is wanted in connection with the 1999 multi-location bomb conspiracy targeting cities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A senior police officer described the arrests as a major breakthrough in the TN’s anti-terror operations. “These individuals were responsible for several incidents that shook Tamil Nadu over the last three decades. Their arrest will be crucial in unearthing more details about sleeper cells and terror networks that may still be active”, he said.
The Tamil Nadu ATS confirmed that both accused will be produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded to custody. Further investigation is ongoing to uncover their wider network and involvement in other terror operations.