New Delhi, March 16 The NIA filed charges against six individuals on Monday for allegedly threatening witnesses in an attempt to obstruct the trial related to the assassination of Puducherry's BJP leader Senthil Kumaran.
The accused, identified as Nithyanantham alias Nithi, Siva Sankar, Vengatesh, Ezhumalai, Heram alias Karthi, and Udhayakumar, have been charged before a special NIA court in Puducherry, according to an official statement.
Four of these accused, namely Nithyanantham, Siva Sankar, Vengatesh, and Ezhumalai, were previously charged for their alleged role in the deadly attack on the BJP leader.
In the new chargesheet, the NIA has filed fresh charges against these four, and has also charged Karthi and Udhayakumar for allegedly unlawfully obtaining details of the witnesses and issuing threats to them, the NIA said in a statement.
Senthil, a local BJP leader, was ruthlessly murdered by six individuals on motorcycles, using explosives and lethal weapons, in Villianur, Puducherry, in March 2023, the investigating agency said.
The local police initially registered a case, which was subsequently taken over for investigation by the NIA.
According to the NIA, investigations reveal that the four previously charged accused had conspired with two others from the Central Prison Kalapet and the Special Prison in Yanam, Puducherry, to unlawfully obtain certain confidential documents.
To obstruct and sabotage the trial, they used these documents to identify the witnesses, including protected witnesses, with the intent to threaten them against testifying before the trial court, the NIA said.
Having discovered Nithi's modus operandi regarding witness sabotage, the NIA had requested the court to shift him from Central Prison Kalapet to Special Prison Yanam.
The anti-terror agency had also arrested two of his accomplices and taken them into remand.
In September 2025, the NIA conducted searches in the prisons and residences of the accomplices and seized several incriminating material evidences related to the conspiracy.
Investigations in this witness sabotage conspiracy case are ongoing, and the NIA has appealed to all citizens to share any information in this regard, with the promise to keep their identity secret, the statement said.
