Chennai, July 12 -- Tamil Nadu director general of police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal on Friday held a press conference to announce the arrests of three key terror suspects- Abubacker Siddique, Mohammed Ali and Sadiq alias Tailor Raja- in a coordinated multi-state operation led by the state Anti Terror Squad (ATS).

The three accused were all wanted in connection with the 1998 Coimbatore blasts in Tamil Nadu , which killed 58 people.

The operation was carried out in coordination with the police forces in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh over the past six months, said Jiwal. Siddique and Ali- currently not linked to any banned organisations - were picked up from Andhra Pradesh's Kadappa district, while Sadiq, who is believed to be linked to the extre...