According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), two Naxals, including a woman, have been detained in connection with the 2019 Tiriya encounter case in Chhattisgarh, which resulted in the deaths of six Naxals and one civilian.
B.Ch. Padma and Dubasi Devender were apprehended by the NIA on Sunday following in-depth investigations into the case, also known as the RK Dairy case, according to a statement from the NIA. Four suspects in the case have been apprehended by the NIA thus far.
Padma alias Modem Padma alias Lalita, who was previously active as Divisional Committee Member of CPI (Maoist) or Naxals, was currently acting as a Coordinator between Front organisations and the CPI (Maoist) as well as spreading the ideology of the banned outfit. However, Devender was closely associated with CPI (Maoist) cadres operating in the core area.
He was also serving as a courier for the CPI (Maoist), helping their anti-national operations by smuggling their communications, both paper-based and digital.
According to NIA investigations, both of the suspects detained on Sunday had a close working relationship with the naxal organization’s top leadership in support of their anti-national actions.
Earlier, when conducting searches at the homes of the two accused, the agency found various pieces of evidence pertaining to the operations of naxal cadres.
The incident, which has come to be known as the Tiriya encounter case, resulted in the deaths of six Maoists and one civilian. Naxal members attacked security personnel close to Tiriya village in Chhattisgarh.
The NIA had taken over the case in 2021, along with several other cases related to naxal conspiracies to carry out acts of terror and violence in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The encounter took place in July 2019, when a Joint team of the local District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had travelled to the forest area near Tiriya in PS Nagarnar area of Jagdalpur District in Chhattisgarh.
They had gone there after receiving inputs that a group of naxal cadres had gathered with the intention to perpetrate a big incident on July 28, which is observed as Shaheed Diwas.
Following the encounter, the Security forces had recovered arms and ammunition, as well as several incriminating handwritten documents, literature etc from the site.
The case was initially registered on July 28, 2019, under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It was re-registered by NIA on March 18, 2021.
