SOURCE: ANI
In a massive crackdown on the banned naxal outfit in an anti-India conspiracy case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday swooped down on the premises of accused and suspected persons at 12 places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Of the total, 11 locations were searched in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh and one location in Kaimur district of Bihar in connection with the case registered originally by Uttar Pradesh’s Anti Terror Squad (ATS).
Several digital devices, including mobile phones, SIM cards and memory cards, along with incriminating documents like pamphlets of the proscribed naxal outfit, were seized during the search operation, said the NIA.
The NIA had taken over the investigation in the case, relating to arrest of five persons following the recovery of arms and ammunition, incriminating documents, literature and books of CPI (Maoist) in Ballia on November 10 last year. On February 9 this year, the agency had chargesheeted four accused in the case.
As per NIA’s investigations so far, the banned outfit is making active efforts to re-energise its presence in the Northern Regional Bureau, comprising Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. “Leaders, cadres, and sympathizers and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of CPI (Maoist) or naxals are trying to revive the organisation’s decrepit presence in this region,” said the NIA, adding that “the NIA has been moving aggressively in recent months to steamroll the organisation’s nefarious plans.”