The explosives used were found to be gelatin sticks activated by timer devices and were concealed in cars, motorcycles, bicycles, sideboxes of two-wheelers, denim and rexine bags, and fruit carts.

The bombings were apparently in retaliation to the 1997 Coimbatore riots during November – December the previous year, when Hindu fundamentalists groups killed 18 Muslims and 2 Hindus [4] and looted several thousands of properties of Muslims following the murder of a traffic policeman named Selvaraj, by a member of the radical Islamist group Al Ummah.

Investigators found out that the blasts were a part of larger conspiracy to target L.K.Advani, the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party on that day at 4 p.m in his election meeting.

The committee tabled its final report in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on 18 May 2000, whose recommendations were accepted in principle by the state government.

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 was convicted to life sentence along with 12 others.

[6] The agency became popular among Muslim circles when they perpetrated a bomb blast in the building of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Chennai in August 1993.

[5] The Hindutva organisations had been engaged in a concerted effort to spread Hindu nationalism as a political mobilization tactic for a decade.

The Hindu Munnani and other Sangh Parivar groups have tried to gain political influence by increasing communal violence on Tamil Nadu's minority communities in Coimbatore and other southern districts.

Clashes erupted between both the communities and the police reportedly opened fire targeting the Muslims killing ten.

[12] On 14 February 1998, the first of the serial bombs exploded at 3.50 pm IST in a cycle stand at the Coimbatore Junction railway station, killing six people.

There were allegations that suicide bombers were ready to target Lal Krishna Advani, the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), during his election meeting at 4 pm.

At 4:05 pm, a car bomb exploded at the entrance of the Coimbatore general hospital, killing two nurses, a patient and a doctor.

Hindu fundamentalists attacked people at random and properties belonging to Muslims were ransacked, in the aftermath of the serial blasts.

They were concealed in cars, motorcycles, bicycles, sideboxes of two-wheelers, denim and rexine bags, and in a cart loaded with pineapples.

Puram, close to the BJP meeting venue, gave cause for much anxiety for days until the complicated device was dismantled.

[13] 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.

[19] Within hours of the blasts, the Tamil Nadu Government banned the Muslim fundamentalist group Al Ummah and the Jihad Committee.

Leaders of the Jihad Committee and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) were arrested in a State-wide crackdown.

Over the next few days, over 100 activists of the three organisations were arrested at Keezhakkarai, Devakottai, Dindigul, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Nagercoil, Melapalayam and Udumalpetai.

[13] 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.

[21] Abdul Nasir Madani, chief of Islamist political outfit called PDP, well known for his provoking speeches, was arrested by the police on 31 March 1998, for his alleged link with suspects of this blast.

The report indicated that the seven instances of police firing in Coimbatore on 30 November and 1 December 1997, leading to the killing of eighteen Muslims, were justified.

The report quoted that three human bombs named Amanuallah, Melapalayam Amjath Ali and Rafique alias Shanmugam, were targeting L.K.

The investigations found that the group used the videotapes of the deceased during the riots to mobilise sympathy and garner financial support from Muslim countries, mainly those comprising the Gulf.

[7][23] The report made several recommendations like deploying checkposts in sensitive areas, proscribing organisations acting against law, setting up separate intelligence wing and methods to evaluate feedback of lower level police officers.

The government accepted the commission's findings in principle and stated that specific recommendations would be examined in detail by the respective departments before passing orders.

[24] 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.

[28][29] On 17 November 2009, nine members of Al Ummah, convicted in the blasts were released from jail for their good conduct, 16 months short of their full sentence on the occasion of 100th birth anniversary of Arignar Anna, the founder of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and ex-chief minister.