PUDUCHERRY: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has named 13 individuals in a charge sheet filed in connection with the Villianur bomb blast, which killed BJP functionary Senthil Kumaran, on March 26, 2023.
Six bike-borne men hurled country-made bombs at Senthil Kumaran and then attacked him with machetes in Puducherry. The police registered a case, but it was later handed over to the NIA and the case was re-registered on April 29, 2023.
According to a release from the agency, the mastermind of the attack, identified as Nithyanandam, was arrested along with his associates namely, Vignesh, Siva Sankar, Raja, Pradeep, Karthikeyan, Vengatesh, Rajamani, Ezhumalai, Kathirvel, Ramachandiran, Lakshmanan, Dhilipan, and Ramanathan. The NIA has charged all of them, except Ramanathan, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The NIA's investigation revealed that Nithyanandam conspired to spread terror among the locals in Villianur and surrounding areas. He allegedly formed a terrorist group to manufacture country-made explosives and also procured machetes to carry out the attack. Nithyanandam got Kathirvel to track Senthil Kumaran's movement. On March 26, six assailants, namely Vignesh, Siva Sankar, Raja, Pradeep, Karthikeyan, and Vengatesh, executed the attack.
In the aftermath of the attack, the accused concealed the vehicles and blood-stained machetes used in the attack, as well as the assailants' blood-stained clothes, all of which were recovered during the course of the investigation.