The arrested man is suspected to be an Indian Mujahideen terrorist (Representational)

A suspect in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts, who has been evading capture all these years, has been arrested from a forest in Kannur district of Kerala, police said Thursday.

He has been identified as Salim (42), a suspected Indian Mujahideen operative, they said.

"Only thing we can say right now is that we have kept (detained) one person from Kerala and he has been produced before the court. Thereafter we are requesting police custody to question him," additional commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar told PTI.

The trial in the case, said Mr Kumar, has reached its final stage when police got inputs about Salim, he added.

"There are 32 accused in the case. The trial is already in the final stage. We got some inputs of late with regard to his movement. So we arrested him from Kannur district," Mr Kumar said.

Sources in the Central Crime Branch of police, which is probing the case, said he was evading arrest all these years and was captured from a forest in Kannur district Wednesday.

The blasts took place on July 25, 2008 at nine places in the city killing two people and injuring 20 others.