NIA charges 16 in Jharkhand Maoist arms seizure case

The National Investigation Agency has filed a supplementary charge sheet against 16 accused, including a woman, in a case linked to the seizure of arms and ammunition from a CPI (Maoist) hideout in Jharkhand last year, an official said on Sunday.
The supplementary charge sheet under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, Criminal Law Amendment Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was filed in a special court on Saturday, a spokesperson of the anti-terror federal agency said.
On May 18, 2022, the Jharkhand police filed a charge sheet against nine other accused.
The case relates to the arrest of CPI (Maoist) cadres and the seizure of a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the Peshrar police station in Lohardaga on February 21 last year. The NIA took over the case on June 14, 2022.
The arrests and the seizures followed a raid in th e forest area of Bulbul, where CPI (Maoist) Regional Commander Ravindra Ganjhu, along with active cadres Balram Oraon, Muneshwar Ganjhu, Balak Ganjhu, Dinesh Nagesia, Aghnu Ganjhu, Lajim Ansari, Markush Nagesia, Sanjay Nagesia, Sheela Kherwar, Lalita Devi and around 40 to 60 others had assembled to conspire and plan attacks on the security forces and in bauxite mines area, the spokesperson said. A joint operation was conducted by the local police and the CRPF during which the CPI (Maoist) cadres fired indiscriminately on the security forces on the way to Bahabar Jungle at Harkatta Toli and Bangla Pat. “NIA investigations have revealed that the armed cadres and members of CPI (Maoist), a proscribed terrorist organisation, had hatched a conspiracy to carry out violent acts and unlawful activities and endanger the security of the country. “The plan was to destabilise the democratically elected government by committing terrorist acts and violence attacks,” the spokesperson said.