24 years on, CBI arrests RSS hq blast accused 

New Delhi : After a hunt that lasted 24 years, the CBI arrested Mushtaq Ahmed, one of the main accused in the 1993 bombing of RSS' Chennai headquarters in which 11 persons were killed. Ahmed, who had eluded the CBI for 24 years, was arrested from the outskirts of Chennai, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here. The blast on August 8, 1993 was triggered using RDX.

It brought down the multi-storeyed RSS office at Chetput in Chennai, claiming 11 lives. Ahmed had allegedly procured the explosive material for assembling the bomb and provided shelter to the other accused, officials said. The agency had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for providing credible information about Ahmed. The agency filed a chargesheet against 18 persons under Explosive Substances Act and TADA.

In 2007, a TADA court in Chennai in 2007 convicted 11 persons and awarded life terms to three after a 12-year trial. The agency continued its hunt for Ahmed -- who did not face trial as he could not be arrested -- right through. After the trial in 2007, the special court acquitted four persons, including S A Basha, founder of the banned Al Umma, for lack of evidence against them.