The charge-sheet running to over 300 pages and 3,000 witnesses and evidence is becoming a reality after a marathon investigation over seven months. Frontline leaders of Al-Umma have been named as accused in the blast and S A Batcha will be accused no. 1.

The serial blasts rocked this textile city on February 14 when the then BJP leader and presently Union Home Minister L K Advani was scheduled for a visit here during the election campaign. The State Government ordered for a CB-CID probe into the serial blasts despite widespread demand for a CBI probe by the BJP and opposition parties to investigate the growth of fundamentalism.

The basis of the case will be the incident at Thirumal Street in Manyan Thottam of BigBazaar police station limits, which took place on February 14 midnight, when a police team stormed the extremists' hide-out soon after the serial blasts. In this incident, six extremists were killed in the encounter, while eight others were arrested.

This was the first breakthrough by the city police within eight hours of the serial blasts, and a huge haul of explosives were recovered by the extremists. This incident which was registered as Crime No 151 of B-1 PS dated February 14 formed the basis of investigation which SIT pursued.

Initially, the case was handled by the inspector of B-1 police station and was subsequently handed over to the City Crime Branch. When the State ordered a CB-CID probe into the blasts, a Special Investigation Team was formed and a full-fledged inquiry began from February 19. DySP Bose began the investigation and later SIT named ADSP Rajasekhar (who has earlier served as AC - Intelligence in Coimbatore) as investigating officer.

SIT, which first faced a plethora of problemsincluding manpower crunch and infrastructure shortage, has successfully completed the first phase of the investigation and a preliminary charge-sheet is being filed as scheduled.

SIT which did not have a legislation which can enable detention of an accused beyond 90 days without a charge-sheet sought the help of the National Security Act and had to expedite its investigation.

The police dragnet was spread in the neighbouring states like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where some of the accused had taken shelter. The case had unprecedented inter-state ramifications and SIT was on its toes for nearly seven months to give shape to this case.

So far, the SIT has secured the arrest of over 158 accused, and a total of 166 accused are being named in the first preliminary charge-sheet. Eighteen more accused are still at large and SIT is at the task of bringing them to book. Of the 158 arrested, sources say, 10 persons who had no role to play may be let off the hook. In all, 111 accused have been detainedunder NSA so far.

The names of Ariffa Begum and Ayeesha are not figuring in the charge-sheet. It is learnt that they were involved only in the explosives haul at Kodambakkam in Chennai and not Coimbatore.