A fugitive Indian terrorist convicted for his involvement in a 1995 bombing was arrested in Pattaya on Monday.
Indian terrorist Jagtar ‘Tara’ Singh is escorted to the Criminal Court for a custody hearing after his arrest in Pattaya on Monday. Singh, who was convicted in India for his involvement in a 1995 bomb blast that killed 18 people, has been on the run in Thailand for months using a Pakistan passport. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Police said he had been hiding in Thailand since October.
The man was identified by police as "Gurmeet Singh", 47, who holds a Pakistani passport, but authorities in India confirmed that he is Jagtar "Tara" Singh.
Singh is wanted in India for the 1995 car bombing assassination of the chief minister of Punjab. An Indian embassy official in Bangkok also confirmed the arrest.
The Criminal Court has ordered the extradition of Singh to India to stand trial. Singh will not appeal the decision.
Singh was captured by special forces, joined by Chon Buri Provincial police and soldiers, national police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
"We had been following him for a while, but at one point he slipped off the radar," Lt Gen Prawut said.
The security forces on Monday night raided a house in Bang Lamung district owned by a Pakistan man, Ali Alat, after receiving a tip-off.
Mr Alat was quoted by Thai media as saying that he received a phone call from Singh last Thursday asking for help because he was being hunted by police for having an expired passport. He said Singh offered him 30,000 baht to provide him shelter.
Mr Alat said he was not aware Singh was a terrorist.
But the Hindustan Times reported that Mr Alat is also known as "Khalat Bari" and has connections with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The newspaper said Singh had been hiding in Pakistan for the past several years. In June last year, Punjab police received information that he was living in Thailand under the name Gurmeet Singh and carrying a Pakistani passport.
A police team from Punjab was sent to Thailand from September to November last year, but Singh eluded capture until Thai authorities discovered his hideout, according to the Hindustan Times.
Singh is known as the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force, a group of Sikh terrorists operating in India and Pakistan. He reportedly supplied the car used in the deadly bombing against the Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was killed in the suicide attack along with 17 others, including a number of soldiers and VIPs.
Singh was a key figure, among several extremists, in plotting the mission. Singh and the other masterminds were later arrested and imprisoned in the high-security Burail jail in Chandigarh.
But three of them, including Singh, escaped by tunneling their way out in 2004.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha earlier insisted that the Thai government would agree to extradite Singh to India if he was captured by Thai authorities.
Thailand and India signed an extradition treaty in 2013.