CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said they have filed a charge sheet against an accused for harbouring the proclaimed offenders in the 2018 Ramalingam murder case for six years.
The PMK worker was hacked to death on February 5, 2019, in Thanjavur district allegedly by members and office-bearers of the Popular Front of India, a banned outfit. The central agency said Mohammed Ali Jinnah of Batlagundu in Dindigul district has been charge-sheeted before the NIA Special Court, Chennai, for knowingly providing shelter to the absconding assailants and the conspirators in the case. The NIA, which took over the case in March 2019, had in August 2019 charge-sheeted 18 accused, six of whom were absconding and had been declared proclaimed offenders (POs).
During investigation, NIA found that Jinnah had harboured them all in a cottage, the agency said.
Jinnah was arrested in November 2024, while three of the absconding POs were arrested on different occasions between 2021 and January 2025, it said. A search is on for the remaining three absconders who are carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh each for information leading to their arrest, said a statement issued by NIA.