Radhavinod Raju (27 July 1949 – 21 June 2012) was an

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...

(IPS)

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

. He joined the police service in 1975 as

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

cadre batch. The character Sethurama Iyer, who is the main protagonist of CBI film series in Malayalam films, portrayed by

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

is said to have been inspired by Radha Vinod Raj.

Early life and education

Radhavinod Raju was born in

Mattancherry Mattancherry (; Cochin Portuguese Creole: ''Cochim de Cima'' ), is a historic ward of Kochi, Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, follow ...

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, Kerala. His father R.S. Raju was a post master in

Fort Kochi Fort Kochi ( , ; Cochin Portuguese: ''Cochim de Baixo'', , Tamil: ''Koçhé Kōtàì''), formerly also known as Fort Cochin or British Cochin or Old Kochi, is a region of Kochi city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the For ...

. He is survived by his wife Achamma and two daughters Sindhoo and Renu. His nephew is Music director/Actor Siddharth Vipin. He got MSc in Physics from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, Kerala. He entered into

when he was working as an Officer in

Union Bank of India Union Bank of India (UBI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai. It has 153+ million customers and a total business of Rs.22,92,644 crores as of 31 March 2025. After the merging with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, which c ...

, Goa.

Career

His first appointment as

Superintendent of police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territori ...

in Poonch District, Jammu and Kashmir. Then he joined SP in

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

(CBI),

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

. After that he served as DIG in Jammu and Kashmir. On 19 January 2009, he was appointed as the first chief of India's

National Investigation Agency The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the principal counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India. Established under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, it is tasked with investigating and combating offenses related to terroris ...

. Before that he held the post of Director General of vigilance department of

. He headed the operational wing of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which found the killers of

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

in 1991. His service history also includes important cases like the Kandahar flight hijacking, Purulia arms drop case etc. He was working as a CBI officer in Kerala in 1983–89. At the time he investigated very important cases in Kerala police history like Polakkulam murder case, Panoor SI Soman murder case, Augustine murder case, Sujatha murder case.

Death

He died in Kochi on 21 June 2012 at the age of 62, due to lung complications. Until his death, he served as an advisory council member of

Central Vigilance Commission Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, free ...

Bibliography

* Triumph of truth:the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, the investigation by D. R. Kaarthikeyan, Radhavinod Raju; Publisher – New Dawn Press, 2004; * Rajiv Gandhi Vadham Oru Kuttanweshanam(Malayalam) by D. R. Kaarthikeyan, Radhavinod Raju; Publisher – Olive;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raju, Radha Vinod 1949 births 2012 deaths Indian police officers People from Mattancherry

Early life and education

Career

Death

Bibliography

See also

References