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In a significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has seized money accounting of Rs 1.13 crore linked to one of the kin of a Special Area Committee member of the outlawed CPI Maoist on June 18.
As per the information shared by the agency, the money seized by the NIA as proceed of terrorism was extorted from contractors and other from Bihar and Jharkhand which was used to finance medical studies of a relative of some of the accused.
The action has been taken under section 25(1) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with a case registered suo moto by the premier agency in December 2021 linked to revival of CPI Maoist activities in Magadh Zone.
NIA investigation into the case have further revealed that the said amount had been directly transferred to the bank account of a Medical college in Chennai, Tamil Nadu for the medical education of a relative of a senior Maoist leader. The transfer was done through bank accounts of close relatives of the accused person, under the grab of a loan amount.
According to the NIA, the beneficiary of the funds extorted by CPI Maoist, is the niece of the FIR named chargesheeted accused and Special Area Committee member of CPI Maoist Pradyuman Sharma.
The said beneficiary is also sister of arrested chargesheeted accused Tarun Kumar and cousin of arrested chargesheeted accused Abhinav alias Gaurav alias Bittu.
Notably, NIA had filed a chargesheet before a special court in Ranchi of Jharkhand against Tarun Kumar and Pradyuman Sharma in connection with the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and UAPA in January last year. Both Pradyuman and Kumar were arrested by the agencies in August 2021.
Months later the agency had filed a supplementary chargesheet against Abhinav alias Gaurav in the case in June 2023. The latest of the supplementary chargesheet had been filed by the NIA against two more accused in December last year.
In the second supplementary chargesheet filed before the special NIA’s court in Ranchi, the accused Vijay Arya alias DIlip, Central Committee (CC) member of the CPI Maoist and Ananad Paswan alias Anandi Paswan, both residents of Bihar were charged under section 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, the central agency had also slapped Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against both the accused.
The case pertains to the terror financing network of the proscribed CPI Maoist which was being operated by the cadres and Over Ground Workers (OWG) of the terror outfit in the Magadh region of Bihar.
According to the NIA’s investigation, all of the accused were involved in collecting funds for procurement of arms and ammunition and for recruitment of new cadres with the help of the OWG and other cadres of the banned group lodged in jails.
The Investigation had further revealed that the CC member, Vijay Arya was operating as a bridge between the OWG workers and other stake holders of the banned Maoist outfit in Jharkhand and Bihar. Arya was also found involved in motivating the ex-cadres of the extremist group to further expand the footprints of the terror group in Magadh region of Bihar.
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