NIA raids 20 locations in Tamil Nadu in connection with Ramalingam’s murder case

In what suggests that the NIA has made significant headway into the Ramalingam murder case, the NIA has carried out raids at 20 locations across Tamil Nadu in connection with the ongoing probe into the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) activist Ramalingam’s murder case. The case was taken up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently.

The ghastly act of the PMK activist’s murder took place in the month of February this year. Ramalingam, a 42 year old Hindu man, who had previously stopped extremist religious preachers from converting Dalits to Islam, was brutally murdered by a group of unidentified men. His hands were chopped off with billhooks. He had reportedly died due to excessive bleeding on the way to a hospital.

At that time, The News Minute had quoted a police officer as saying, “Ramalingam had, coincidentally, gone into the street to pick up a few men who were working for him, in his catering business. When he saw the group of Muslims speaking about Islam there, he raised questions and as those men retaliated, an altercation ensued. The issue was also sorted out by the Muslim clerics in the afternoon.” According to the Goa Chronicle’s report, the police suspected that the Muslim men, with whom Ramalingam had arguments with, could have killed him in an act of revenge. The police FIR stated that that Ramalingam was murdered “…as a warning to people who are part of rationalist movements, people from other religions and the general public who engage in activities against Allah, Muhammed Nabi or Islam…”.

The heart wrenching incident had resulted in widespread discontent with common people hitting to the streets and demanding justice for the PMK activist. However, the mainstream media tried spinning the entire incident in order to suit their ideological narrative.

Most of the raids conducted by the NIA, on the PFI activists, took place in Thanjavur. The NIA also searched the offices of PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in Trichy, Kumbakonam and Karaikal. The NIA is also reported to have carried out inquires with the local police and Ramalingam’s family. Moreover, eleven accused are said to have been arrested earlier by the police in connection with this case. Thereafter, the case was handed over to the NIA.

Ramalingam’s murder was something that shook the country. The very manner and brutality with which the murder was committed, added with the circumstances in which it was committed, make it imperative that an expeditious probe is carried out and the culprits are brought to justice.