KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency(NIA) on Monday filed a charge sheet in the Ernakulam NIA Special Court against three accused in connection with the Kozhikode Maoist case. The charge sheet was filed against 20-year-old Allan Shuaib and Thwaha Fasal (24) arrested in connection with the case and absconding accused, CP Usman (40).
They have been charged under IPC Section 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The case was originally registered on November 1, 2019 at Pantheerankavu police station, Kozhikode after the duo were arrested with documents and propaganda material allegedly supporting CPI (Maoist), while they were conducting a meeting with Usman, who managed to escape.
The case was re-registered by the NIA Kochi unit later. The NIA said investigation has established that "the arrested accused and the absconding accused are members of the proscribed terrorist organization, CPI (Maoist) and that they had conducted secret meetings as well as committed certain unlawful activities for furthering the terrorist cause of CPI (Maoist) in Kerala". It said that further investigation is still on in the case.
Thwaha and Allan were students of journalism and law respectively and the CPM's branch committee members in Kozhikode district. The state's ruling CPM had come under attack from the Congress-led United Democratic Front as well as Left leaning activists for their arrests under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The case was taken over by the NIA, but Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking to hand over the probe to the local police, saying the investigation was going in the right direction.
The CPM in Kerala in February expelled Allan and Thwaha from the party for their alleged Maoist links. The party alleged that they used to "work with the CPI(M) and the Maoists simultaneously. The Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala had met their parents after the Chief Minister disowned them for their alleged Maoist activities.