Raipur: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on March 6 arrested four workers and associates of banned outfit CPI (Maoist) in connection with the murder of an Army jawan in February 2023.
The accused have been arrested for their involvement in conspiracy, resulting in murder of Army jawan Motiram Achala in a local village fair.
They have been identified as Bhawan Lal Jain alias Bhuwan Jain, his associate Suresh Kumar Salam, along with Shailendra Kumar Baghel alias Golu, and Anduram Salam, informed the agency in press issue on Thursday evening.
The arrested accused were all directly involved in hatching the criminal conspiracy to kill Motiram Achala. They were actively aiding and abetting criminal and unlawful naxal activities, including extortion to strike terror in the minds of the people, added the release.
NIA Arrests 4 CPI (Maoist) OGWs & Supporters in 2023 Chhattisgarh Army Man’s Murder Case pic.twitter.com/3xzwExoNkj
— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 6, 2025
Achala, who was posted as Havaldar in the Northeast, was brutally murdered while visiting his hometown in Badetevda village, located in the insurgency-hit Kanker district of Uttar Bastar, during a local fair in February 2023.
A jawan of the Army Service Corps Motiram had come to his native village to meet his expecting wife, when he was shot dead by Maoists in a local fair at Useli village on February 25. The responsibility of the murder was claimed by the local area committee of the proscribed group in a banner surfaced two days after the incident.
The NIA which took over the case from police a year later, has carried out extensive searches to track the culprits. Several incriminating documents and electronic devices were seized during the investigation.
