1998 Coimbatore blasts convict re-arrested for planning to ‘eliminate’ PM Modi

Mohammed Rafiq, who was convicted in the 1998 Coimbatore blast case, has been remanded to 15 days judicial custody for allegedly conspiring to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rafiq was arrested by the Coimbatore police after his telephonic conversation with a businessman named Prakash went viral on social media. In the recorded telephonic conversation, Rafiq was purportedly being heard claiming that he plans to kill Modi.

“The conversation was mainly related to finances about vehicles,” PTI quoted a police officer as saying.

“But suddenly the blast convict was heard saying ‘we have decided to eliminate Modi, as we were the ones who had planted bombs when LK Advani visited the city in 1998’,” the officer said.

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Rafiq was charged under the Sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity among different groups on grounds of religion) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

He was convicted in the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blasts case, in which 58 people were killed. He was allowed to walk free after he served his jail term in 2007.

However, even after his release, he continued to be involved in several cases and was under police’s watch list.