An office in Ranchi: NIA gears up to fight left wing terror harder

New Delhi, Nov 06: On Thursday, the National Investigation Agency set up a new office in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

This was an important move considering the rising number of cases in the state, which is hit by naxalites in particular.

The jurisdiction of the NIA Ranchi Branch extends to the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Presently, NIA Branch Office, Ranchi is investigating 14 cases related to Terror Funding, Maoist Insurgency and Human Trafficking, the NIA said in a note.

Very recently the NIA arrested Stan Swamy a Jesuit said to be close to the naxalites.

Officials tell OneIndia that Stan Swamy is a member of the CPI (Maoist). He is actively involved in its activities. He is the convenor of the PPSC, which is a frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist). He is alleged to have received funds through an associate to further the activities of the CPI (Maoist).

The official cited above also said that documents pertaining to the furthering of the activities of the CPI (Maoist) were seized from his possession. The official also added that he was in contact with some of the conspirators Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde.

In July, the NIA had arrested an accused identified as Fuleshwar Gope in connection with a terror funding case. The case pertains to the seizure of Rs.25.38 lakh, belonging to Dinesh Gope, Chief of PLFI (People's Liberation of India), which were about to be deposited in SBI, Branch Bero, Ranchi in 2016.

In the same month, the NIA filed a chargesheet in connection with the PLFI case. The case pertained to the seizure of Rs 25.38 lakh in demonetised currency, belonging to Dinesh Gope, the chief of the People's Liberation Front of India. The money was to be deposited in the SBI branch, Ranchi on November 10, 2016, by Gope's associates after demonetisation.

Earlier this year, the NIA had arrested a naxalite from Jharkhand.

The case pertained to the seizure of Rs 6 lakh and incriminating material from the naxalite, Manoj Kumar. He was caught while he was on his way to male a levy payment to the CPI (Maoists).

Investigations also revealed the role played by one Sunil Manjhi, who was a member of the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee (BJSAC) of CPI (Maoist). He was active in naxal related activities in the Giridh area of Jharkhand and was instrumental in the collection of huge amounts of levy from contractors engaged in developmental projects being undertaken in that area.