Coimbatore: Man wanted for blasts held after 9 years

A man wanted for the past nine years in connection with the 1998 serial blasts in Coimbatore has been arrested, police said on Thursday.

Maideen was one of five accused, who were at large since the blasts occurred on February 14, 1998 during a visit by BJP leader L K Advani.

The explosions claimed 58 lives and injured 250 people. Maideen, arrested later on the charge of murdering three Hindu Munnai leaders in Melapalayam in Tirunelveli district, was acquitted by a fast track court on Wednesday.

On learning of his acquittal, a special investigation team probing the blasts arrested him from Melapalayam after executing a non-bailable warrant that was pending against him, police said.

He was brought to Coimbatore and produced in the judicial magistrate's court, which remanded him to custody.