Elusive for 24 years, accused in RSS Chennai HQ blast case held by CBI

The blast happened at about 1.45 pm on August 8, 1993, at MV Naidu Street, Chetpet, Madras resulting in the death of 11 persons and injuries to seven others.
The arrested Akshay has confessed to the crime.
The arrested Akshay has confessed to the crime.

CHENNAI: After eluding the law for twenty four years, Mushtaq Ahmed, one of the main accused in the 1993 blast at the RSS headquarters in Chennai, which killed 11 people, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday.

Ahmed had a bounty of `10 lakh on his head for anyone providing credible information about him. He was arrested by the CBI, which has taken over the investigation from the State police, at Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh.

The blast happened at about 1.45 pm on August 8, 1993 at MV Naidu Street, Chetpet, Madras resulting in the death of 11 persons and injuries to seven others, with extensive damage to the building.

After completion of investigation, the CBI had filed charge-sheets against 18 accused. The agency’s hunt for Ahmed gathered steam after a TADA court in Chennai convicted 11 persons and awarded life term to three of them in the case in 2007 after a 12-year trial. Four persons, including SA Basha, founder of the banned Al Umma, were acquitted for lack of evidence against them.

Immam Ali, a suspected ISI agent, who had escaped from custody in Madurai, was gunned down in Bangalore in an encounter on September 29, 2002, while another accused, Jihad committee founder Palani Baba was hacked to death by suspected RSS sympathisers on January 28, 1997.

Of the 431 witnesses, 224 were examined during the course of the trial which commenced on August 7, 1995. The charge-sheet was filed on June 8, 1994.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com