Chennai, July 1 : In a major victory against long-standing terror networks, the Tamil Nadu Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested Abubacker Siddique, the state's most wanted militant, from a remote hideout in Andhra Pradesh after nearly three decades on the run.

Siddique (60), a native of Nagore, was apprehended along with Mohammed Ali (alias Yunus or Mansoor), another fugitive wanted in several terror-related cases.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the ATS traced and arrested the duo in the Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh.

Siddique, a skilled bomb-maker and radical ideologue, had been absconding since 1995 and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh. He is believed to be the mastermind behind multiple high-profile terrorist incidents in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states.

He also played a central role in mentoring several key radical operatives, including Bilal Malik, 'Police' Fakruddin, and Panna Ismail.

Police sources described Siddique's arrest as a significant development in counter-terrorism efforts, given his involvement in a series of deadly attacks, including the 1995 bombing at the Hindu Munnani office in Chintadripet, Chennai, and a parcel bomb blast in Nagore that same year, which killed a man named Thangam.

He was also involved in coordinating bomb-planting operations at seven locations across Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, and parts of Kerala in 1999, including an attempt to target the Chennai Police Commissioner's Office in Egmore.

Tamil Nadu Police also said that the terror operative was behind the failed assassination attempt on former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani during his Rath Yatra in Madurai in 2011.

He was also charged with the 2012 murder of Dr. Arvind Reddy in Vellore. The fugutive was was on the run was also involved in the 2013 bomb blast near the BJP office in Malleswaram, Bengaluru. Mohammed Ali, hailing from Melapalayam in Tirunelveli, had been absconding for 26 years and is also named in the 1999 multi-location bombing case.

Both men have been linked to efforts to incite communal unrest and execute targeted attacks against political and religious figures. The arrests come as a major morale boost for law enforcement agencies and are expected to open the door for progress in several stalled investigations.

Senior officials said the operation is a testament to the ATS's sustained intelligence-gathering and coordination efforts across states.

Siddique and Ali will be produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded to custody. Their interrogation is expected to yield crucial insights into the workings of terror modules in southern India.

Authorities hailed the arrests as a decisive step toward dismantling dormant sleeper cells and reaffirmed their commitment to preventing extremist violence and securing public safety.

/IANS