The Aryavarth Express
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday announced the arrest of the last of the six absconding proclaimed offenders, along with another harbourer, in connection with the 2019 murder of Ramalingam in Tamil Nadu.
The arrested accused has been identified as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a resident of Thanjavur district and a former district president of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). He had been declared a proclaimed offender and was carrying a reward of ₹5 lakh for his arrest. Ramalingam was hacked to death on February 5, 2019, in Thanjavur, allegedly by PFI members.
In a statement, the NIA said its investigation revealed that Jinnah played a key role in conspiring, supervising and coordinating with other accused in the brutal killing. He was arrested on Tuesday following specific inputs received from the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) unit of the Tamil Nadu Police.
Along with Jinnah, the NIA also arrested Asmath, who had allegedly been harbouring the proclaimed offenders for several years to help them evade arrest.
The arrests come days after the NIA apprehended two other absconding proclaimed offenders—Mohamed Burhanudeen and Mohamed Nabil Hasan, both residents of Thanjavur district—along with three harbourers. The two accused, who had been on the run for nearly seven years, were arrested from Pallikonda in Vellore district based on intelligence inputs from sister agencies. According to the NIA, they had conspired and coordinated with others to murder Ramalingam by hacking and chopping off his hands.
With the latest arrests, all six proclaimed offenders in the case have now been taken into custody. Each of them had a reward of ₹5 lakh announced for their arrest.
Earlier this month, the NIA had also arrested three harbourers—K. Mohideen, Mohamed Imran and Thameem Ansari, all from Chennai district—for allegedly facilitating the concealment and movement of the absconders after the murder.
The NIA took over the investigation from the Thiruvidaimaruthur Police on March 7, 2019, and filed a chargesheet in August the same year. The agency said further investigation into the wider conspiracy behind the murder is ongoing.
