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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday chargesheeted another key accused in Uttar Pradesh's Balia Naxal conspiracy case on charges of his participation in activities aimed at destabilising the government of India.
The supplementary chargesheet was filed before the NIA Special Court in Lucknow naming Santosh Verma, alias Mantosh, a resident of Kotwali area of Balia. Mantosh has been charged as an active Naxal cadre. He has been charged of associating with other members of the outfit in conspiring and indulging in disruptive activities aimed at threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. As per the NIA, Mantosh was also actively involved in recruitment of new cades for Naxals. The case was originally registered on August 16, 2023, at Anti-Terrorist Squad of Lucknow Police following the arrest of five persons in a raid at the house of one Ram Murat, the previous day. Several incriminating documents, literature and pamphlets related to Naxals, along with arms and ammunition and digital devices, were recovered from the possession of the accused. Investigations revealed that the proscribed organisation was using "frontal outfits to propagate Naxal ideology in the districts bordering Bihar." "It was with this aim that they had organised a meeting at Ram Murat's house to further their sinister motives," said the NIA. NIA, which took over the investigation on November 10 last year, had earlier chargesheeted four other accused in the case on February 9 this year. The agency's probe so far has revealed that leaders, cadres and sympathizers and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of Naxals were engaged in various nefarious activities in an effort to re-energize the outfit in the Northern Regional Bureau, comprising Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. (ANI)
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