The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said its searches across five districts of Uttar Pradesh were to thwart an alleged attempt by the leaders and members of the banned CPI (Maoist) to revive its operations.
The searches were carried out in Prayagraj, Chandauli, Varanasi, Deoria and Azamgarh on Tuesday, said the agency.
“Several digital devices, including mobile phones, laptops, pen drives, compact discs and memory cards, were seized during the raids, along with SIM cards, naxal literature, books, pamphlets, pocket diaries, money receipt books and other incriminating documents,” it said.
The NIA said its probe indicated that several frontal organisations and students wings had been tasked to motivate and recruit cadres and propagate the ideology of CPI (Maoist) with the intent of waging a war against the government of India. “They were conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence in furtherance of this agenda,” said the agency.
“Investigations have also revealed that Pramod Mishra was leading the cadres and sympathisers/Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of CPI (Maoist) in the efforts to revive the terror organisation,” it said, adding that the raids were conducted on the premises of such cadres and OGWs.
Arrests in Bihar
Last month, the Bihar police had arrested Rohit Vidyarthi, the brother of Ritesh Vidyarthi whose wife is named in the case concerned.
Rohit’s interrogation had led the State police to the arrest of Pramod Mishra, an alleged Central committee member and in-charge of the outfit’s northern regional bureau. “Following these arrests, the State police had seized arms, ammunition and detected a gun factory, where a lathe had been installed for making parts of weapons and assembling country-made weapons in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,” said an official.
The case registered by the NIA had named Manish Azad, his wife Amita Shireen, Ritesh Vidyarthi, his wife Soni Azad, along with their associates Vishwavijay, his wife Seema Azad, Kripa Shankar, Akanksha Azad and Rajesh Azad as some of the key accused working to further the CPI (Maoist) revival attempts.
