Court Charges 8th Accused in Maoist Case

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges against an eighth accused, Ramakkagiri Chandra, in a conspiracy case related to the radicalisation of vulnerable youth towards Maoist ideology and support extension to the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation.

Chandra faces charges under various sections of the IPC, UA(P) Act, and Arms Act in the agency's first Supplementary chargesheet, presented before the Visakhapatnam NIA Special Court.

Reportedly, Chandra, a state committee member of Pragathisheela Karmika Samakhya (PKS), a frontal outfit for the proscribed organisation, was found in possession of a pistol and ammunition provided by the CPI (Maoist).

NIA investigations have unveiled Chandra's involvement in conspiring with underground CPI (Maoist) leaders to advance the organisation's activities. He was also implicated in constructing a bust for slain Maoist S.A. Rauf in Kutigalla village of Sri Sathya Sai District in Andhra Pradesh, as part of a larger conspiracy involving frontal organisations and cadres of CPI (Maoist).

The chargesheet comes as an extension of the Munchingput conspiracy case, with the original chargesheet filed by the NIA in May 2021, where seven accused were indicted.

The agency continues its investigation into the case as part of efforts to dismantle the banned outfit's network.