NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case against a Tiruchirappalli resident for allegedly propagating the ideology of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) through social media, officials said.
The accused had called for the creation of a "sovereign Tamil Nation" comprising Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lanka.
The accused has been identified as Thamizharasan alias Narayanan, son of Subramanian, a resident of Agaram Nagar in Thiruverumbur, Tiruchirappalli.
The federal probing agency, on August 14, booked the accused under Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(1)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and Sections 152 and 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The NIA took up the probe on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issued under an order dated August 11 by the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR) Division.
According to the FIR, officials of the Thiruverumbur police station had earlier registered a case in February following a complaint from a constable.
It was alleged that the accused had been running Instagram accounts and a Facebook page and disseminating content supporting LTTE and TNLA, both proscribed terrorist organisations. Investigators said the accounts also propagated secessionist ideology aimed at reviving the banned TNLA and had, through the posts, sought to establish a new outfit called the "Tamil Nadu Youth Organisation."
The Central government, taking cognisance of the FIR filed by the Tamil Nadu Police, decided to transfer the case to the NIA. The Centre observed that the case pertained to misleading youth and indoctrinating them towards secessionism, with implications for national security and a wider conspiracy.
The case has been re-registered at the NIA's Chennai branch.
Police records show the original Trichy case was built around the identification of accounts including "thamizh_tnlf," "tnyf_trichy" and "Tamilnaduliberation" on Instagram and a Facebook page named "TN Thamizh."
A motorcycle registered in the accused's name was also cited in the initial complaint as having been used to distribute related pamphlets in the area.
