National Investigation Agency Founding Director Radha Vinod Raju passed away

Radha Vinod Raju, the founding director of National Investigation Agency (NIA) died at the age of 62 on 21 June 2012. Raju was also a key member of the special investigation team which investigated the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Born in Kochi on 27 July 1949 Raju started his career as an officer in the Bank of India. Subsequently, in 1975, he joined the J&K cadre of Indian Police Service. In his long illustrious career as an IPS officer, Raju served on various top positions such as, senior superintendent of police of Jammu district, deputy inspector general of South Kashmir Range and inspector general of Jammu.

Raju also headed the special investigation team (SIT) which probed the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991. The SIT headed by him, held LTTE culprit of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
Raju was awarded with numerous medals and awards during his service with the IPS. Most coveted of the awards that he received includes the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1992, the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 1999, a Director-General’s Commendation Certificate in January 2000 and the Sher-e-Kashmir Medal for Meritorious Services in 2003.

What is National Investigation Agency (NIA)?

National Investigation Agency (NIA), the counter terrorism law enforcement agency of India, was founded on 31 December 2008.  The agency was founded amidst the growing incidents of terror attacks in India. The dreadful Mumbai terror attack of 26 November 2011, prompted the Government of India to take some concrete measure to prevent any such incident in the future. The government, consequently, proposed to enact a legislation, to set up the NIA. The agency is entirely dedicated to inspect the acts of terror in the country. Senior IPS officer SC Sinha is the present Director General of NIA.