Tailor Raja - Key Suspect in 1998 Coimbatore Bomb Blasts Arrested In Karnataka After 27 Years

In a significant breakthrough, Tamil Nadu police arrested A. Sadiq, alias Tailor Raja (50), a prime suspect in the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blasts that claimed 58 lives and injured over 250 people.

The arrest took place on Wednesday at a vegetable market in Vijayapura, Karnataka, where Sadiq had been living under an assumed identity for over a decade. Acting on a tip-off, a special team from the Coimbatore police, supported by Tamil Nadu’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), tracked Sadiq to his shop in Vijayapura.

A resident of Bilal Estate, Ukkadam, Coimbatore, in 1998, Sadiq was allegedly a key member of the Al-Umma group and an expert in crafting improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Police sources revealed that he had rented a house in Vallal Nagar, Coimbatore, where bombs were manufactured and stored before being distributed to other Al-Umma operatives ahead of the February 14, 1998, bombings.

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After the blasts, Sadiq fled to Hubballi, Karnataka, where he worked as a daily wage laborer. He later married, had three children, and relocated to Vijayapura 15 years ago. To evade detection, he adopted the alias Shajahan, securing an Aadhaar card, driver’s license, and other documents under the false identity. Initially employed at the local market, he eventually set up a shop selling chillies.

A senior police officer involved in the operation said, “Sadiq was stunned when we apprehended him. He denied any involvement in the Coimbatore blasts during initial questioning.” The officer noted that Sadiq’s carefully constructed new life made it challenging to trace him after nearly three decades. Sadiq’s criminal history extends beyond the 1998 bombings. He is also linked to a 1996 petrol bomb attack in Coimbatore that killed a jail warden, the murder of a person in Nagore in 1996, and the 1997 killing of a jailor in Madurai.

Following his arrest, Sadiq was remanded to judicial custody until July 24 and has been lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison. The ATS plans to take him into custody for further interrogation to uncover additional details about his role in the bombings and related crimes. The arrest marks a significant milestone in the long-standing investigation into the Coimbatore blasts, bringing closure to one of Tamil Nadu’s deadliest terror attacks.

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