NIA Court Sentences 12 in Jharkhand Maoist Funding Case
Ranchi: On August 18, a Special NIA Court in Ranchi sentenced 12 individuals for their involvement in a case concerning extortion and the collection of illegal levies from coal transporters, contractors, and businessmen in Jharkhand’s Amrapali-Magadh coal mining areas. These funds were used to finance the banned Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), whose armed cadres were also affiliated with the CPI (Maoist), according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The court handed down 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) to five accused, eight years of RI to six accused, and five years of RI to one accused.
The case, registered as RC-06/2018/NIA/DLI, relates to the collection of levies in the Amrapali and Magadh coal mining areas under Tandwa Police Station in Chatra district. According to the NIA, members and cadres of the banned TPC, including armed cadres affiliated with the CPI (Maoist), allegedly operated in connivance with local committees, businessmen, transporters and officials as part of a criminal conspiracy to collect money in exchange for permitting coal mining and transportation activities.
The 12 accused sentenced by the Special NIA Court are Bideshwar Ganjhu alias Bindu Ganjhu, Laxman Ganjhu alias Kohram, Munesh Ganjhu, Birbal Ganjhu, Mukesh Ganjhu alias Muneshwar Ganjhu, Bhikhan Ganjhu alias Deepak Ganjhu, Anishchay Ganjhu, Pradeep Ram alias Pradeep Verma, Vinod Kumar Ganjhu, Sanjay Jain, Prem Vikas alias Mantu Singh, and Subhan Mian.
The sentences were pronounced after the court, on August 12, 2026, found the 12 accused guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P) Act). One of the 13 accused who faced the initial trial was acquitted.
The NIA had filed a chargesheet against 16 accused on December 22, 2018, followed by a supplementary chargesheet against five additional accused on January 10, 2020, taking the total number of charge-sheeted accused to 21.
The initial trial involving 13 accused was completed with the recording of evidence from 119 prosecution witnesses.
According to the NIA investigation, the TPC had established an extortion network in the coal mining areas, allegedly using its influence and armed cadres to raise funds through the collection of levies. The agency said the activities were carried out in coordination with various local stakeholders and were linked to the broader objective of financing the banned organisation.
