Kochi, June 21 (IANS) Radha Vinod Raju, the first chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), died here early Thursday due to lung complications, a doctor said. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Family sources said the final rites would take place at the Ravipuram crematorium. Until then, his body would be kept at his residence at Chilavanoor for people to pay their last respects.
A highly respected Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, Raju passed away around 3.40 a.m. at the Lake Shore Hospital, medical oncologist V.P. Gangadharan told IANS.
Gangadharan, who had been treating Raju for about a year, said the end came due to severe complications in the lung.
Raju, who also served with distinction in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), headed the operational wing of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to track down the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
He was posted in the Kashmir Valley when militancy erupted. After his stint in the CBI, he returned to Jammu and Kashmir before finally heading the NIA.
Over the years, Raju was recognised widely as an expert on terrorism and counter insurgency and as an authority on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Daily News Post India (tdnpost)