On 17th December, the founder of the banned terrorist outfit Al-Umma, SA Basha, died at a private hospital while undergoing treatment. The 84-year-old Basha had been serving life imprisonment in the Coimbatore serial blasts case since February 1998. He was released on parole a few months ago by the Madras High Court due to ill health, so he could spend some time with his family.
Funeral procession of SA Basha who plotted the 1998 Coimbatore blasts that killed 58 people and injured 231 others. BJP leader LK Advani escaped death by a whisker.
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) December 17, 2024
Basha was a top Al Umma operative. He never showed any remorse for his crime. pic.twitter.com/YfSc2Q48he
He had also threatened to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In July 2003, then-Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, was scheduled to visit Coimbatore. Basha and others were convicted in murder of a Hindu Munnani leader. When journalists were talking to the convicts at the Coimbatore court premises, Basha stated if Gujarat CM Modi visited Coimbatore, he would be killed.
VIDEO | Chennai: “The thinking of making him (S A Basha) a martyr is very bad actually. He is not only a terrorist, he is a convict. I don’t understand how this (Tamil Nadu) government is keeping quiet. I saw a report that there are around 2,000 police to monitor the procession.… pic.twitter.com/k6HIpDHdre
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 17, 2024
Basha’s funeral procession was taken from South Ukkadam to the Hyder Ali Tippu Sultan Sunnath Jamaath Masjid at Flower Market in North Coimbatore for the last rites. Shockingly, despite it being public knowledge that he was a terrorist and the mastermind of the Coimbatore serial blasts that killed 58 people and injured 231, thousands of Muslims joined his funeral procession on 17th December in Coimbatore.
Shocker from Tamil Nadu. 1998 Coimbatore blast mastermind who murdered 58 Indians and injured 231 others, given a send off fit for a hero. SA Basha, key member of Al-Umma radical outfit died serving time in jail from illness. State security merely watches this open eulogy by… pic.twitter.com/YTnm2RS4DT
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) December 17, 2024
The BJP criticised the Tamil Nadu government for allowing such a massive procession to take place for a terrorist. Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy condemned the reports of the procession in a post on X, stating, “I am surprised to see that some politicians in Tamil Nadu have hailed the terrorist Basha as a martyr, as if he has served society. He is a life convict sentenced for murdering around 60 Tamil people and leaving hundreds injured. He is a hard-core criminal and convict.”
It is really shocking and unfortunate to know that a funeral procession of the dreaded terrorist of the banned Al-umma’s founder Basha would take place today at Coimbatore as per media reports. Basha was the conspirator in 1998 Coimbatore Bomb blast that took away 58 lives and…
— Narayanan Thirupathy (@narayanantbjp) December 17, 2024
BJP functionary from Tamil Nadu, Amar Prasad Reddy, wrote, “A shocking incident from Tamil Nadu. SA Basha, mastermind of the 1998 Coimbatore blasts that claimed 58 lives and injured 231, received a hero’s farewell. Thousands openly eulogised the Al-Umma terrorist as state security stood by as mute spectators. Why was this allowed? What precedent is being set? How can anyone glorify a terrorist akin to ‘Afzal Guru’? The so-called defenders of constitutional values and secularism remain silent as their principles are mocked.”
A shocking incident from Tamil Nadu:
— Amar Prasad Reddy (@amarprasadreddy) December 17, 2024
SA Basha, mastermind of the 1998 Coimbatore blasts that claimed 58 lives and injured 231, received a hero’s farewell. Thousands openly eulogized the Al-Umma terrorist as state security stood by as mute spectators. Why was this allowed? What…
SA Basha, Coimbatore serial bomb blasts and Al-Ummah
SA Basha, the founder of Al-Ummah, was the mastermind behind the Coimbatore bombings. Supported by ISI agents like Azam Ghauri, Saleem Junaid, and Farooq Ahmed, Basha used his organisation’s network to execute the attacks. His extremist agenda was fuelled by a desire to avenge communal violence against Muslims. In addition to his role in the Coimbatore blasts, Basha was implicated in the 1993 RSS office bombing in Chennai and had been arrested for inciting communal riots the same year.
Basha, who used to be a timber marchent, established Al-Ummah in the aftermath of the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya in 1992, with the goal of uniting terrorist Muslim groups in southern India. Based in Kottaimedu, a predominantly Muslim area in Coimbatore, the organisation quickly became a front for ISI operations in Tamil Nadu. It maintained secret arms factories, producing explosives like PETN and RDX, and trained its members in assembling improvised explosive devices.
In 1998, the murder of a police constable, Selvaraj, resulted in Hindu-Muslim clashes in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. During that time, election campaigning was also ongoing. On 14th February 1998, Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani was scheduled to address a rally at RS Puram in Coimbatore. Before he could reach the venue, bombs went off in several parts of the city. The bombs were concealed in cars, motorcycles, bicycles, side boxes of two-wheelers, denim and rexine bags, and fruit carts. Reports mention that the bombings were apparently in retaliation to the 1997 Coimbatore riots that happened during November and December in the year 1997.
53 people were killed, and 231 were injured in the serial bomb blasts. In later days, the death toll climbed to 58. One of the bombs went off at RS Puram as well, minutes before Advani could reach the venue. The blasts were timed between 3:50 PM and 4:20 PM. Apart from deaths and injuries, the blasts resulted in a property loss worth Rs 4.37 crores. The violence, planned as retaliation for the deaths of 18 Muslims in the 1997 Coimbatore communal riots, continued over the next three days.
Investigations revealed that SA Basha was the mastermind behind the serial bomb blasts. Initially, the investigation was carried out by the city police. However, it was later transferred to a special investigation team of the CB-CID. Basha was found guilty of the crime and sent to jail. He had been in prison since then.
A chargesheet in the bomb blast case was filed in 1999, where Basha was named as the mastermind of the crime. He was accused of plotting to kill Advani using a suicide squad. They planned to use 650 kg of gelignite to carry out the deadly task. According to the chargesheet filed in the case, Basha managed to procure gelignite and other explosives from Mysore to make IEDs and bombs.
A total of 166 suspects were listed in the chargesheet. Of these, 158 were convicted by the special court. Out of those, 43, including Basha, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Later, the conviction of 17, including Basha, was upheld by the Madras High Court, while the other 22 were acquitted.
While 17 convicts filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, Basha did not appeal. One of the convicts died.
Despite being banned after the Coimbatore blasts and the arrest of over 100 members, Al-Ummah continued to pose a threat. In April 2013, a former member of the group, Panna Ismail, was linked to a bombing near the BJP office in Bangalore, which injured 16 people, including 11 policemen. Investigations revealed ongoing connections between Al-Ummah’s ex-members and other terror outfits, underlining the persistent danger of dormant extremist networks.
In February 2024, Tamil Nadu government led by DMK sparked controversy after they released three terrorists involved in the 1998 Coimbatore blast case. While speaking about the matter, BJP (Tamil Nadu) President K Annamalai said, “It’s very unfortunate the DMK government is trying its best to release 16 convicts in the infamous Coimbatore bomb blast and they’re doing everything within their power to get this done before the Lok Sabha election just to get a brownie point.”
“Only in October 2023, the Supreme Court has squarely rejected the bail for all the 16 convicts saying it’s a grave crime of the very high order. Now, DMK government in 2021, after they came to power, they got the Justice Adinathan Commission, more like an eye wash commission. They got a report from the commission which said they should be released,” the BJP leader was heard saying.
Some of the information about SA Basha and Al Ummah has been extracted from Madras High Court judgment dated 18th December 2009.
