Islamist groups probed in murder of Ramalingam, who tried to stop conversions

Thirubuvanam: A week after Ramalingam was hacked to death in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district, Hindutva groups called for a bandh and blamed the 'Islamic terrorist groups' for his death. The police have made nine arrests in the case so far, but the victim's 17-year-old son, who was at the crime scene, claimed none of them was the attackers.

A week has passed by with no clarity in the foreseeable future but mudslinging  between parties continue.

An altercation, earlier on the same day that Ramalingam died, between him and a group of men wearing Muslim skull caps, gave birth to the suspicion that a muslim group was behind the brutal murder. 

MyNation spoke to a member of the Hindu Munnani Katchi, Arjun Sampath who alleged that the murder was carried out by none other than the People Front of India.

"Members of the PFI chopped Ramalingam's hands because he applied vermillion on the Muslim man's forehead. This is just a barbaric murder," said Sampath. He also went on to say that the PFI has always been active in eradicating those who don't believe in their ideologies. Arjun Sampath went on to say that Ramalingam was an innocent man and has paid a heavy price for trying to bring communal peace. 

Speaking to MyNation, the President of the People Front of India, Mohammed Ismail said that the party has been wrongly accused.
“We demand fair probe into the murder. This is just an attempt to malign our image,” said Ismail. He also went on to say that of the people arrested so far, two of them belong to the PFI. Ismail also alleged that Ramalingam had constant fights in the locality and “anyone could have killed him, but PFI is being blamed”.

Ramalingam was politically active with the Pattali Makkal Katchi whose spokesperson K Balu said that the ones behind the attack whether a PFI member or otherwise, must be punished for their barbaric act. 
Thanjavur Superintendent of Police was contacted several times but was not available for comment. 
Ramalingam's son, R Shyamsundar stated that he had seen the pictures of those who had been arrested and was certain that neither of them was there at the crime scene at the time of the incident. "The people who are arrested are not the same as those who had attacked him. They weren't from this place, they are outsiders and they smelled of alcohol, said Shyamsunder."

The police, however, are confident that they are on the right track and believe that there is reasons to believe that the arrested men were indeed involved in plotting the murder. A case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act for inciting violence between two religious communities.

Ramalingam was brutally murdered on February 5 by four unidentified men. The incident took place after Ramalingam had an altercation with a group of men that morning, who were allegedly on a proselytisation drive in the locality.

In a video recorded by Ramalingam's son Shiyamsundar, Ramalingam could be heard convincing the group of men wearing Muslim skull caps not to spend time trying to convert people into Muslims. Ramalingam was heard stating several times that one should instead utilise their time for the development of our country and live in harmony with one another. He even took the skull cap from the man's head and placed it on his head before greeting him with an "Assalam-waleikum'. Ramalingam then applied vermillion to the Muslim man's forehead and clicked a picture with him, soon after the Muslim man could be seen wiping the vermillion off his forehead.

When one watches this video, one can observe the following. Ramalingam repeatedly accused the men wearing the Muslim skull caps of trying to convert many people in the locality into Muslims. Yet, they never contested the claim and neither did they say that, that was not their intention. Another thing worth noting in the video is that Ramalingam voluntarily and whole-heartedly placed the Muslim skull cap on his head and rubbed vermillion on the man's forehead. After a picture was clicked, the man was seen rigorously wiping it off. Several times Ramalingam could be seen asking if the men would be willing to accommodate him in their locality, yet he was met with a deafening silence from their side.

Although the altercation between Ramalingam and the group occurred early in the morning of February 5, it wasn't until after 11:30 pm on the same night that four men waiting near Ramalingam's residence hacked him to death. Ramalingam's son believes that there is no other reason apart from this, that would trigger someone to kill his father.
 

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