How naxals are using coal transport contracts to fund their activities

New Delhi, Nov 13: Over the past couple of days the National Investigation Agency has made some crucial arrests in cases that relate to funding of naxalites.

A key observation made by the NIA is that coal transport contracts were taken at higher rates that the existing ones and the extra amount was being transferred towards naxalite funding.

The organisation that has come under the scanner of the NIA is the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TCP). On November 4, the NIA had arrested one Subhan Miya, an employee of the Central Coalfields Ltd.

The NIA said that Miya was found to be involved in a conspiracy of extortion by the TPC and Village Committee members in the Amrapali Magadh Coal region. He was also accused of planning and organising meetings between top leaders of the TPC, CCL and Village Committee members. He would collect funds through his transport company M/s TD Enterprises and in turn fund the TPC.

On Monday, the NIA arrested one Sudhanshu Ranjan alias Chotu Singh, a resident of Samaria in Jharkhand. He has been accused of supplying funds to the TPC, which is outfit run by Left Wing Extremists.

It has been found that Singh had got a contract to transport coal in the region on the basis of a recommendation made by a TPC leader, Akraman alias Netaji. NIA officials tell OneIndia that this is one of the many ways in which the naxalites are funding their movement. In the instant case it has been found that contracts were taken at a higher rate than the prevailing ones and the excess amount was being transported to the TPC.

Naxalites have resorted to various other ways of collecting funds. In the coal producing areas, they are running an extortion racket, through which they forcibly take money from stone crusher owner, local contractors and transporters. A similar modus operandi has been found to be operational in all the naxal affected areas in the country, the NIA also says.