Radha Vinod Raju, the debut Chief of NIA, National Investigation Agency died early in the morning today (3:40 AM) at Lake Shore Hospital Kochi.  Doctors claim Lung Infections as the reason of his demise.  A highly respected IPS Officer Raju is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Family sources said the final rites would take place at the Ravipuram crematorium. Until then, his body would be kept at his residence at Chilavanoor for people to pay their last respects.
Medical oncologist V.P.Gangadharan, who had been treating Raju for about a year, said the end came due to severe complications in the lung.
Raju, who also served with distinction in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), headed the operational wing of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to track down the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
He was posted in the Kashmir Valley when militancy erupted. After his stint in the CBI, he returned to Jammu and Kashmir before finally heading the NIA.
Over the years, Raju was recognised widely as an expert on terrorism and counter insurgency and as an authority on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eela
A decorated Indian Police Service officer, Raju was last month made a member of the advisory board by the Central Vigilance Commission to assist the CBI in probing cases of bank, commercial and financial frauds.