Arrest of Coimbatore bomb blast accused: ATS team conducts house search in Karnataka

COIMBATORE: Following the arrest of Coimbatore serial bomb blast case accused A Sadiq alias Tailor Raja,50, a team from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) here conducted a house search at Vijayapura in Karnataka on Monday.According to sources, the ATS team seized valid documents including Aadhaar card, PAN card, and driving licence of Sadiq Raja, who had changed his name to Shahjahan Shaik."He supplied the IED bombs to the designated Al-Umma cadres in February 1998. After escaping from Coimbatore, he moved to Cholapur in Uttar Pradesh. Later, he relocated to Hubballi in Karnataka where he worked as a tailor and changed his name to Shajahan Makkandar.

There, he married and had three children. He subsequently moved to Vijayapura in Karnataka where he ran a chilli business under the name Shahjahan Shaik," said a source.Sadiq alias Tailor Raja, who had been evading arrest for 27 years, was apprehended by the Coimbatore city police from Vijayapura on July 9. He was later handed over to the ATS, Coimbatore, which took him into custody for five days."He confessed to his role in three murders and his involvement in the 1998 Coimbatore serial blast," said a senior police officer.

After five days in custody, he was produced before the judicial magistrate court-V on Monday evening and was remanded in judicial custody until July 24.Sources confirmed that he had not been involved in any terror activities since the 1998 Coimbatore car blast, focusing entirely on his family life."He was shocked when the police traced him after 27 years. He cried and told the police they could have arrested him earlier as he had built a good family life. He had purchased a plot in Vijayapura where he planned to construct a house," said a source.He had also created a Facebook account under the name 'Shahjahan Shaik,' believing that the police wouldn't be able to trace him through social media due to his name change from Sadiq alias Tailor Raja.