The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested an absconder of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit from Mumbai in connection with a 2021 case related to an alleged conspiracy to revive the Maoist organisation in the Magadh zone spanning Bihar and Jharkhand.
The arrested accused has been identified as Chandan Kumar, a resident of Jehanabad district in Bihar. According to the NIA, Chandan was an active member of CPI (Maoist) and was involved in raising funds for the organisation. Investigators said he was also attempting to re-establish contact with former cadres and persuade them to rejoin the outfit to facilitate extremist activities.
The case was registered by the NIA in December 2021. It pertains to an alleged conspiracy to revive Maoist activities in the Magadh zone by reorganising cadres, arranging funds, procuring weapons, and providing training in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The NIA said a special court in Ranchi had earlier declared Chandan Kumar a proclaimed offender. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against him in October 2023. Since then, the agency had been conducting searches at multiple locations to trace him.
According to the investigation, the conspiracy involved several CPI (Maoist) operatives, including Special Area Committee member Pradyuman Sharma, along with Yogendra Ravidas, Nagendra Giri, Abhinav alias Gaurav alias Bittu, and Dhananjay Paswan, all of whom were named as accused in the case.
The probe revealed that the accused were allegedly working towards reviving the Maoist network in the Magadh region through systematic fund mobilisation, recruitment of cadres, procurement of arms, and training in explosives. Funds were allegedly raised through extortion and levy collection from contractors, and were routed through various channels to support the activities.
Investigators also found that efforts were being made to establish contact with jailed Maoists and over-ground workers to further the alleged conspiracy.
The NIA has already filed charge sheets against five accused in the case. The agency said further investigation is ongoing.