NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at nine places in Tamil Nadu in connection with the Ramlingam murder case.Raids are currently underway at eight locations in Dindigul and one in Tenkashi district following information received about several suspects, officials said. The case was initially registered by the local police after members of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) hacked Ramalingam to death in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu in February 2019, after he opposed their forcible religious conversion efforts. In May this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) chargesheeted one accused, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, for harbouring the proclaimed offenders in the Ramalingam murder case for six years. The NIA, which took over the case in March 2019, had in August 2019 chargesheeted 18 accused, of whom six were absconding and had been declared Proclaimed Offenders (POs). During the investigation, the agency discovered that Mohammed Ali Jinnah had housed all the accused in a cottage. Jinnah was arrested in November 2024, while three of the absconding POs were apprehended on different occasions between 2021 and January 2025. Authorities are searching for the remaining three absconders, each of whom carries a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to their arrest.
