Radha Vinod Raju, super sleuth, anti-terrorism expert and the first chief of National Investigation Agency (NIA), died in Kochi on Thursday. He was 63, and leaves for posterity the “filmy touch” to his personality that was the stuff of the popular “CBI series” movies.
The condition of Raju, admitted to Lakeshore hospital on Monday following a lung infection, turned worse by Wednesday evening. He passed away at 3.40 am, the hospital said.
An IPS officer from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, Raju had also served in the Central Bureau of Investigation between 1983 and 1989 and headed the operational wing of the Special Investigation Team that cracked the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in 1991.
Born on July 27, 1949, Raju worked with Bank of India before joining the IPS. Widely known as the real-life “Sethurama Iyer CBI”, Raju solved several murder and corruption cases during his spell in CBI.
Later, he moved to J&K to deal with the militant activities there, before joining the NIA as its head. Raju was an authority on the LTTE.
In 2002, he functioned as joint director of the CBI. He was also one of the joint authors of Triumph of Justice — The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination — The Investigation, a book which explains the way the SIT cracked the Rajiv Gandhi case.
He leaves his wife Achamma and two daughters, Renu and Sindhu. His last rites were held with state honours at Ravipuram crematorium.
Mammootty and S.N. Swamy, the two “CBI men” in Mollywood, paid homage to Raju by paying their last respects at the latter’s residence on Chilavannoor Road in Kochi.