A National Investigative Agency (NIA) special court of Patna sentenced three accused convicted in a 2012 Maoist (Naxal) arms and ammunition seizure case of Aurangabad, Bihar, to rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine on Tuesday, December 05, informed NIA in a press release.
The accused, Udit Narayan Singh alias Tulsi alias Tufan and Akhilesh Singh alias Manoj Singh, have each been sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment with a Rs 5000 fine under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). All the sentences will run concurrently, said the special court.
The third accused in the case, Arjun Ji aka Mani Yadav has also been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5000 by the court. All of the accused have also been held guilty under the Explosive and Substance Act.
All the accused will be liable for an additional three months of simple imprisonment in case of default in payment of the fine as per the quantum of the sentence pronounced by the court.
It is to be noted that the trio had been convicted by the special NIA court in connection with the 2012 arms and ammunition seizure case, in which the court held the accused guilty of being in possession of prohibited and non-prohibited arms and ammunition, as well as chemicals for making IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and bombs for use in terror attacks by the banned CPI Maoist outfit.
The accused, who were found to be active cadres of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), were also found in possession of cash collected as levy money for carrying out terrorist activities.
The case was earlier registered by the Aurangabad Town police after they raided and arrested all the accused along with huge quantities of ammunition, prohibited arms, naxal literature, chemical substances, and other incriminating documents from the possession of the accused in March 2012. Later on, the NIA conducted further investigation into the case and subsequently filed another supplementary chargesheet after taking over the case in March 2013.
NIA chargesheetes eight Maoist operatives for supplying explosives, drones and other materials
It is to be noted that earlier, the NIA chargesheeted as many as eight persons for supplying deadly explosives, drones, and other equipment to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) for attacking security forces in the Maoist-infested areas on Friday, December 01.
The accused chargesheeted by the federal agency are already in custody following their arrest under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Three of the eight accused working as the couriers for the banned outfit were apprehended while on their way to supply explosives, drones, and a late machine; the others were subsequently nabbed.
The NIA investigation has revealed that the accused, who were working as couriers for the banned outfit, had purchased and transported a drilling machine to the extremists in March this year. They had also purchased a lathe machine and drone for the Ultras in May 2023 for spying on the combing parties of security personnel in the Maoist-affected regions.
The accused persons had also received explosive materials from the co-accused to be supplied to the proscribed CPI (Maoist). The explosives are to be used to unleash violent attacks on the security forces in the Maoist stronghold. The case was initially registered by the Cherala police station in Telangana in June of this year, but was re-registered and taken over by the NIA in August this year.
It is to be noted that the federal investigative agency has been running a crusade against the banned CPI (MAoist), conducting frequent raids on the possible hideouts of the underground and overground workers of the outlawed outfit across the country.
