The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday raided 21 locations across nine districts in Tamil Nadu in connection with its probe into the 2019 assassination of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) functionary Ramalingam.
Ramalingam was killed for opposing forced conversion activities being carried out by the now-banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), according to NIA.
The NIA, in a statement said that the raids were being conducted, at the homes and premises of five absconding proclaimed offenders (POs) and other suspects at 21 locations in nine districts.
The areas covered in the raids included the districts of Thanjavur, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Tirupur, Villupuram, Trichy, Pudukottai, Coimbatore and Mayiladuthurai.
One of the persons raided has been identified as Nellai Mubarak, state president of SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) – the political wing of the PFI, said the agency.
Also Read: NIA files charge sheet against three gangsters-turned-Khalistani leaders
Others whose houses were raided on Sunday included – Mohammed Ali Jinna, Abdul Majith, Bhurkhanudeen, Shahul Hameed and Nafeel Hassan – all absconding, an NIA spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}Others whose houses were raided on Sunday included – Mohammed Ali Jinna, Abdul Majith, Bhurkhanudeen, Shahul Hameed and Nafeel Hassan – all absconding, an NIA spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}The federal anti-terror probe agency had announced a reward of Rs.5 lakh each to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of any of the five absconders.
The NIA had on 2 August 2019 filed a charge sheet against 18 persons, including the five absconding before a special court in Chennai.
Ramalingam was assassinated on 5 February 2019 in Paku Vinayakam Thoppu, Thanjavur, by members and office bearers of the PFI, which had conspired in the assassination, according to the NIA.
“The accused persons had avenged Ramalingam by killing him in an extremely violent jihadi manner as he objected to the forcible conversion of underprivileged persons by ‘Dawah’ team or proselytisation team dispatched from Arivagam, Theni (now attached as proceeds of terrorism under section 25 of UA(P) Act, 1967). According to investigations, the violence was instigated to instil fear among the opponents of the outfit,” the NIA said on Sunday.
The home ministry, through a gazette notification issued on 27 September 2022, imposed a ban on PFI and its eight affiliates – Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala, effectively declaring them as “terror organisations”.
The ban was announced days after a massive crackdown on PFI and its senior leaders and members by the NIA and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in which over 108 people were arrested.