Bengaluru blast accused Abubakar Siddique nabbed after 30 years

Daniel George

Bengaluru

Abubakar Siddique, a long-wanted terror suspect and key accused in the 2013 BJP office blast in Bengaluru, has been arrested after evading capture for nearly three decades. The Tamil Nadu Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) apprehended him along with associate Mohammed Ali in Annamaya district of Andhra Pradesh in a high-level operation coordinated with Coimbatore police and central intelligence agencies.

Siddique, in his late 50s and originally from Nagore, Tamil Nadu, was accused of masterminding the 2013 blast that injured 16 people when an IED exploded near the BJP office. He was reportedly the bomb-making trainer for other operatives like Fakrudeen, Bilal Malik, and Panna Ismail. The IED used in the blast was allegedly assembled near Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.

A retired officer who investigated the blast, H. Omkariah, expressed satisfaction over Siddique’s arrest, praising the persistent efforts of Tamil Nadu Police. Siddique was later handed over to Chennai's Q-Branch for interrogation.

Linked to the banned outfit Al Ummah, Siddique played a key role in uniting splinter factions, organizing funding—often routed through a Tamil Nadu-based trust—and coordinating multiple attacks across South India, including the 1995 Hindu Munnani blast, 1999 Tamil Nadu-Kerala bombings, and the 2011 Advani Yatra pipe bomb plot.

Siddique is also suspected of involvement in the 2014 Bangalore-Guwahati Express twin blasts. A multilingual and literature postgraduate, he reportedly operated under fake identities, with suspected ties to Gulf nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

His arrest marks a significant breakthrough in dismantling sleeper cells active in South India and revives hopes of uncovering deeper terror networks operating in the region.