Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai and several other party leaders were detained by the police on Friday while staging a protest against the funeral procession of SA Basha, the mastermind behind the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blasts. 

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said, “We condemn the cowardly act of the DMK Government for arresting the leaders & cadres of @BJP4TamilNadu for carrying out a rally condemning the glorification of a terrorist who was the reason for the loss of 58 lives in the peace-loving city of Coimbatore in 1998. The DMK Govt should understand that the cadres of @BJP4TamilNadu will never bow down to such autocracy & we will always be the voice of the people of TN.”

We condemn the cowardly act of the DMK Government for arresting the leaders & cadres of @BJP4TamilNadu for carrying out a rally condemning the glorification of a terrorist who was the reason for the loss of 58 lives in the peace-loving city of Coimbatore in 1998.

The DMK Govt… pic.twitter.com/Jil34mW44e

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) December 20, 2024

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Earlier, taking to X, Annamalai criticised the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government accusing it of supporting individuals linked to terrorism. He said that the police of DMK government arrested all of them including Hindu Munnani State President Kadeshwara C. Subramaniam, Vishwa Hindu Parishad District President Sivalingam, and members of the public who took part in the rally. 

Union Minister L Murugan also expressed his disapproval alleging that allowing the funeral procession was inappropriate. Similarly, Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan questioned whether it legitimized acts of terror by treating Basha’s death as a cause for public mourning.

SA Basha, founder of the banned Al-Ummar organization, was serving a life sentence for orchestrating the 1998 Coimbatore blasts, which claimed over 50 lives and injured hundreds. He passed away due to illness while on parole.