New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed the first supplementary chargesheet in the CPI (Maoist) terror financing case pertaining to the revival of the banned outfit’s Magadh zone in Bihar.
The chargesheet was filed before the NIA special court in Ranchi against 22-year-old Abhinav alias Gaurav Kumar alias Bittu hailing from Aurangabad district in Bihar. Abhinav was arrested on January 3 this year and charged under various sections of IPC as well as UA(P) Act, 1967.
As per the NIA probe, Abhinav was part of the conspiracy to raise funds for the banned terror organization. He was also involved in motivating ex-cadres of CPI (Maoist) for the revival of the organization in Bihar's Magadh zone. He was working as a conduit between the outfit’s operatives and other stakeholders of the Magadh zone in Jharkhand and Bihar.
NIA had registered the case (RC-05/2021/NIA-RNC) suo moto after the probe agency discovered that CPI (Maoist) cadres and overground workers (OWGs) were running a terror funding network. The conspiracy was aimed at raising funds for the procurement of arms and ammunition and the recruitment of new cadres. It was to be done in liaisoning with incarcerated Naxals and OWGs in various jails. The purpose was to revive and strengthen Naxal activities in the Magadh region of Bihar.
NIA had arrested three other accused, Tarun Kumar, Pradyuman Sharma and Anandi Paswan, along with Abhinav in the case. The agency had charge-sheeted two accused on January 20. According to NIA investigations, Pradyuman Sharma along with others had hatched the conspiracy and raised funds through various sources, including extorting money from contractors, and procurement of arms and ammunition to carry out violent and subversive activities. They were also engaged in the training of CPI (Maoist) cadres.
In another development, the investigative agency conducted extensive searches at the houses of three absconding suspects in the case related to the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru. The cadres of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were allegedly involved in the killing of Nettaru in Karnataka last year. On Tuesday, three locations were searched in two districts of Karnataka as part of NIA’s efforts to track down the absconders.
NIA seized several electronic gadgets and documents during the searches at the houses of Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahaman in Kodagu district and Naushad in Dakshina Kannada district. The investigation further revealed that all three were suspected to involved in harbouring the main assailants of Parveen Nettaru at various hideouts across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Besides the trio, five other accused are still absconding in the case, which NIA had taken over in August last year.
A total of 21 persons, including the absconders, have so far been charge-sheeted by NIA under various sections of the UA(P) Act, IPC and Arms Act. Nettaru was hacked to death on July 26 last year at Bellare village of Sullia Taluk in Dakshina Kannada district by PFI ‘killer squads’ or ‘service teams’. The PFI was involved in such targeted ‘hate killings’ with the aim of driving a communal wedge and spreading hatred with its ultimate objective of establishing an Islamic Rule in India by 2047, NIA said.
Also read: CPI (Maoist) rebels trying to revive outfit in Bihar’s Magadh zone, says NIA probe report
