The National Investigation Agency (NIA) launched a series of raids across multiple states on Friday in a coordinated effort to curb the revival attempts of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), according to an official statement, reported PTI.
The raids, conducted in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, targeted nine locations associated with various accused and suspects. Four locations were searched in Punjab, two in Uttar Pradesh, two in Haryana, and one in Delhi, as part of the crackdown, the NIA’s statement revealed.
These states, along with Himachal Pradesh, form the National Regional Bureau (NRB), a region the CPI (Maoist) is aggressively attempting to re-establish its influence in, according to the NIA. The investigation agency is intensifying its efforts to dismantle the operational networks and prevent the spread of the Maoist ideology in these areas.
During the searches, several digital devices, including laptops, mobile phones, pen drives, compact discs, hard drives, memory cards, SIM cards, and pocket diaries, were seized. The raids were conducted at premises linked to suspects believed to be close aides of several accused in the ongoing investigation, according to the PTI report.
The NIA’s investigation suggests that these suspects were receiving funds to promote CPI (Maoist) ideology from Prashant Bose, the former head of the Eastern Regional Bureau (ERB). The ERB, particularly in Jharkhand, is believed to have funded these suspects, who are long-time associates and overground workers of the accused, to recruit cadres and strengthen the organisation’s presence in northern states.
The investigation has also uncovered several front organisations and student wings tasked with identifying suitable individuals to work as underground cadres. These cadres were reportedly being prepared to wage war against the Government of India and to carry out violent terrorist acts, in line with the proscribed group’s ideology.