BHUBANESWAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 11 Maoists in a special court here, for their involvement in looting around 4,000 kg explosives that were being transported to a stone quarry in Sundargarh district.
Issuing a statement, NIA said the charge sheet was filed against Jarja Munda, Lalchand Hembram, Pritam Manjhi, Pintu Lohra, Laljit, Shiva Bodra, Amit Munda, Biren Singh, Rajesh, Ranga Punem and Chandra Mohan Hansda under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act and BNSS. During investigation, the agency had found that these 11 Maoists were actively involved in criminal conspiracy, planning and execution of the loot of around 200 packets, each containing 20 kg explosives.
The explosives were being transported from Itma explosive station to Banko stone quarry on May 27 when around 10 to 15 armed Maoists detained the vehicle and confined the driver. He was taken to a Naxal stronghold in the nearby jungle, said the NIA.
After taking over the case from the local police in June, NIA established that huge quantity of explosives was looted to be used against the government machinery, including police and security forces, through the commission of terror acts. Investigation revealed the loot was part of a conspiracy of the banned CPI (Maoist) to disturb the nation’s security and stability. The investigation of the case is continuing, said the NIA.
The loot site was barely 2 km away from Saranda forest. The empty vehicle was found abandoned inside the forest and its driver was unhurt. The driver told the investigators that persons involved in the loot were armed and identified themselves as insurgents and threatened him to follow their instructions.