NIA Arrests Last Absconding Accused in 2019 Ramalingam Murder Case

New Delhi:The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it has nabbed the last of the six absconding proclaimed offenders and also arrested one more harbourer in the 2019 Ramalingam murder case. Mohammed Ali Jinnah of Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu was declared a proclaimed offender and also carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh for his arrest since Ramalingam was hacked to death in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur on February 5, 2019, allegedly by members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). In a statement, the NIA said its investigations have revealed the role of Jinnah, a former district president of PFI, Thanjavur district, in conspiring, supervising and coordinating with other accused in the brutal killing. The agency, which caught Jinnah on the basis of information received from the Anti-Terrorist Squad unit of the Tamil Nadu police on Tuesday, also arrested Asmath, who had harboured the proclaimed offenders in the case for the past several years. Just five days ago, NIA had arrested two more absconding proclaimed offenders and three other harbourers in the case (RC-06/2019/NIA/DLI.) The proclaimed offenders-- identified as Mohamed Burhanudeen and Mohamed Nabil Hasan-- both residents of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, were on the run for nearly seven years since the killing of Ramalingam. They were caught from Pallikonda in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu on the basis of inputs received by the NIA from sister agencies. Members of PFI, Thanjavur district, the "duo had conspired and coordinated with several others to murder Ramalingam by chopping his hands." To date, all six of the accused, subsequently declared proclaimed offenders, have been arrested, and a reward of Rs 5 lakh each was announced for their arrest.