NIA raids Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP in Naxal recruitment case

New Delhi [India], August 30 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday conducted searches across four states in connection with a Naxal recruitment case involving leaders of the banned outfit, the agency said.

The four states where the raids took place are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.

The raids, which are still ongoing, are part of case RC-01/2023/NIA-LKW and targeted the premises of Naxal cadres and Over Ground Workers (OGWs).

NIA investigations have revealed that several frontal organisations and student wings have been tasked with motivating and recruiting cadres, as well as propagating Naxal ideology, with the aim of waging war against the Government of India.

According to the NIA, the accused conspired to commit acts of terror and violence in pursuit of this agenda.

On September 6 last year, the NIA also cracked down on attempts by Naxal leaders and cadres of the CPI (Maoist) to revive the banned terrorist organisation, conducting raids across Uttar Pradesh.

Those raids were carried out at the premises of the accused and suspects at eight locations in Prayagraj, Chandauli, Varanasi, Deoria, and Azamgarh districts of Uttar Pradesh. Several digital devices, including mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, compact discs, and memory cards, were seized, along with SIM cards, Naxal literature, books, pamphlets, pocket diaries, money receipt books, and other incriminating documents.

The NIA investigations at that time indicated that several frontal organisations and student wings had been tasked with motivating and recruiting cadres, as well as propagating the ideology of CPI (Maoist), with the intent of waging war against the Government of India. The accused were conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence to further this agenda.

Investigations have also revealed that Pramod Mishra was leading the cadres, sympathisers, and OGWs of CPI (Maoist) in efforts to revive the terror organisation.

Earlier, in August 2023, Bihar Police arrested one Rohit Vidyarthi, the brother of Ritesh Vidyarthi, whose wife is named in the FIR related to the case. Rohit’s interrogation led the State Police to arrest Pramod Mishra, a CC Member and In-Charge of the Northern Regional Bureau (NRB) of CPI (Maoist).

Following these arrests, the state police seized arms, ammunition, and a gun factory, where a lathe had been installed for manufacturing parts of weapons and assembling country-made firearms in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The FIR filed earlier by the NIA in connection with the case named accused Manish Azad and Ritesh Vidyarthi, along with their associates Vishwavijay; Seema Azad, wife of Vishwavijay; Amita Shireen, wife of Manish Azad; Kripa Shankar; Soni Azad, wife of Ritesh Vidyarthi; Akanksha Azad, and Rajesh Azad as key individuals working to further the revival efforts of the CPI (Maoist).