1998 Coimbatore bombings The 1998 Coimbatore bombings occurred on Saturday , 14 February 1998 , in the city of Coimbatore , Tamil Nadu , India . 58 persons were killed and over 200 injured in 13 bomb attacks in 11 places , all of them within a 12 km radius , 4 bombs were planted at R S Puram area , two near Bus Stand , 1 near Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and at Ukkadam area . These car bombs was the work of Muslim fundamentalist group " Al Umma " which had a strong presence in chennai . The bombings were apparently in retaliation to the earlier riots in the city the previous year , when Hindu gangs and Fundamentalist Muslim groups clashed with each other following the murder of a traffic policeman named " Selvaraj " , by a member of the radical Islamist group Al Umma ( The Ummah ) . Blast Incidents . The first of the serial bombs exploded at 3 . 50 pm on Shanmugham Road in R . S . Puram , 100 metres from the venue of an election meeting that was to be addressed by Bharatiya Janata Party president L . K . Advani . There were allegations that suicide bombers were ready to target L . K . Advani on that day . Over the next 40 minutes , blasts were reported on West Sambandam Road , Gani Rowther Street at Ukkadam , at a textile showroom on Big Bazaar Street , a shopping complex near the main bus stand at Gandhipuram , the vehicle parking lot at the Coimbatore Junction railway station , the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital ( CMCH ) , a travel agency ( owned by a local BJP leader ) on V . K . K . Menon Road , a jewellery shop on Oppanakara Street , a BJP election office at Ratnapuri near Sivananda Colony and a temple at Kurichikulam . Explosives used . The explosives used were gelatin sticks ; these were activated by timer devices . They were concealeddby in cars , motorcycles , bicycles , the sideboxes of two - wheelers , denim and rexine bags , and – in one case – a cart loaded with pineapples . Several bombs that failed to detonate were defused by the bomb disposal squads of the Army , the National Security Guards and the Tamil Nadu Commando School . An abandoned car laden with a horrifying 70 kg of explosives , discovered on East Lokamanya Street in R . S . Puram , close to the abdyua meeting venue , gave cause for much anxiety for days until the complicated device was dismantled . Political impact . The ruling party at that time , the D . M . K came under severe criticism for this incident . Most political leaders and parties expressed shock and revulsion over the blasts . AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha demanded that then CM Karunanidhi own " moral responsibility " for the blasts and resign . Following a report from the Union Home Ministry on the security situation in Coimbatore , polling in the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency was postponed from 22 to 28 February . The bomb blast also had strong political implications . The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate C . P . Radhakrishnan won by a record margin of over 1 , 00 , 000 votes in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections . After blast . Within hours of the blasts , the Tamil Nadu Government banned the Muslim fundamendalist group [ ] and the Jihad Committee . Al Umma founder - president S . A . Basha and 12 other members of the organisation were arrested in Chennai ; explosive materials and weapons were seized from his house in Triplicane , Chennai . Leaders of the Jihad Committee and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam ( TMMK ) were arrested in a Statewide crackdown . Among those arrested were Jihad Committee president R . M . Haniffa , general secretary Mohammed Haniffa , student wing secretary Akram Khan , TMMK president and college lecturer M . H . Jawahirulla and treasurer G . M . Pakkar . Over the next few days , over 100 activists of the three organisations were arrested at Keezhakkarai , Devakottai , Dindigul , Nagapattinam , Thanjavur , Nagercoil , Melapalayam and Udumalpet . About 1 , 000 others were detained as a precautionary measure . In Coimbatore district , nine persons were arrested ; 528 others – 326 Hindus and 202 Muslims – were detained as a precautionary measure . In Coimbatore , joint combing operations undertaken for days after the blasts by the police , the Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF ) , the Rapid Action Force ( RAF ) and the Swift Action Force ( SAF ) in Kottaimedu , Tirumal Street , N . H . Road , Vincent Road , Ukkadam , Al - Ameen Colony , Majeed Colony , Salamath Nagar and Saramedu yielded a huge haul of explosives and deadly weapons : 210 gelatin sticks , 540 pipe bombs , 575 petrol bombs , 1 , 100 electrical detonators and a large number of knives , swords , pickaxes and sickles . For days after the explosions , the city of Coimbatore looked like a town deserted ; business establishments , shops and roadside stalls remained closed and few people ventured out . Hotels refused admission to guests . Wild rumours of fresh bomb attacks spread . In middle - class localities , residents formed vigilante groups . Anyone new to a neighbourhood was watched closely . At R . S Puram , where several bombs had gone off , roads in some neighbourhoods were barricaded and " outsiders " were denied parking space for their cars . All this had more than a little to do with the car bomb discovered on East Lokamanya Road in R . S . Puram . For four days , attention was riveted on it . Residents in the locality moved out even as bomb disposal experts prepared to defuse the explosive This incident came as a severe blow to the upcoming economy of Coimbatore . Real estate prices dropped temporarily , new investments to the city were temporarily halted . However , normalcy was restored within a few months . Dr . K . Radhakrishnan IPS , then appointed as city police commissioner Coimbatore , restored normalcy to the city . The people of Coimbatore are socially indebted to him till date . Abdul Nasir Madani , who is well known for his provoking speeches and chief of Islamist political outfit called PDP , was arrested by the police on 31 March 1998 , for his alleged link with suspects of this blast . The special court found him guilty based on strong proofs submitted . Madani appealed against the judgement , and Tamil Nadu police failed to submit all the previous proofs and alibis . He was finally acquitted on 2007 August 1 and released from prison . Convictions . S . A . Basha , the mastermind of the blasts was found guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy to trigger a series of explosions there on 14 February 1998 and to create enmity between the two communities . "