NIA seeks public help in sharing any information on six accused who have been charged for threatening witnesses in a bid to sabotage the trial into the assassination of Puducherry’s BJP leader Senthil Kumaran in 2023. It assured them that their identity would be kept secret.
In a communication shared on its official X page, NIA said, “the accused, identified as Nithyanantham alias Nithi, Siva Sankar, Vengatesh, Ezhumalai, Heram alias Karthi and Udhayakumar, have been chargesheeted before a special NIA court in Puducherry”. It added that four of these accused, namely Nithyanantham, Siva Sankar, Vengatesh and Ezhumalai, were chargesheeted earlier for their alleged role in the deadly attack on the BJP leader before the Puducherry special court under various sections of BNS, UA(P) Act and NIA Act.
In the new chargesheet, the NIA has filed fresh charges against these four, and has also charged Heram alias Karthi and Udhayakumar for allegedly unlawfully obtaining witnesses’ details and issuing threats to them, the NIA said in a statement.
6 accused have been charged for threatening witnesses in a bid to sabotage trial in 2023 Puducherry case relating to brutal killing of BJP leader Senthil Kumaran.
We urge citizens to share any information in this regard and assure them that their identity will be kept secret. pic.twitter.com/cIsXVMwIdb— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 17, 2026
Senthil, a local BJP leader, was brutally murdered by six bike-borne assailants with explosives and lethal weapons in Villianur in Puducherry in March 2023.
Local police had initially registered a case, which was subsequently taken over for investigation by the NIA.
According to NIA, the investigation reveals that the four previously chargesheeted accused had conspired with the two others from the precincts of Central Prison Kalapet and Special Prison in Yanam, Puducherry, to unlawfully obtain certain confidential documents.
The statement from NIA said, “In order to subvert and sabotage the trial, they had used these documents to identify the witnesses, including the protected witnesses, with the intent to threaten them against deposing before the trial court. Having discovered prime accused Nithi’s modus operandi with respect to witness sabotage, NIA had requested the court to shift him from Central Prison Kalapet to Special Prison Yanam.”
NIA said, “four of these accused, namely Nithyanantham @ Nithi, Siva Sankar, Vengatesh, Ezhumalai, were chargesheeted earlier too for their role in the main terror offence (case RC-06/2023/NIA/DLI) involving a deadly attack on the BJP leader. In the new chargesheet, it has filed fresh charges against these four and has also charged Karthi and Udhayakumar for unlawfully obtaining the details of the witnesses, approaching them, and issuing threats to them.”
During the trial of the Senthil murder case, NIA investigations revealed that the four previously chargesheeted accused had conspired with the two others from the precincts of Central Prison Kalapet and Special Prison in Yanam, Puducherry, to unlawfully obtain certain confidential documents. In order to subvert and sabotage the trial, they had used these documents to identify the witnesses, including the protected witnesses in the case, with the intent to threaten them against deposing before the trial court. Having discovered prime accused Nithi’s modus operandi with respect to witness sabotage, NIA had requested the court to shift him from Central Prison Kalapet to Special Prison Yanam.
NIA had also arrested two of his accomplices and taken them into remand. In September 2025, NIA had conducted searches in the prisons and residences of the conduits and seized several incriminating material evidences relating to the conspiracy.
Investigations in the current witness sabotage conspiracy case are continuing, and the NIA has appealed to all citizens to share any information in this regard, with the promise to keep their identity secret.
