Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday conducted a series of raids and searches in Telangana and Chhattisgarh in connection with a case involving the recovery of explosive materials, drones and a Lathe machine involving the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) for use against security forces.
The NIA registered the case last year in August against 12 accused after the explosive materials, drones and a lathe machine were seized from three of them in June 2022 in Cherla mandal of Kothagudem.
The three accused were arrested by the local police working jointly with other security agencies. “The cache was intended for use in the manufacturing of countrymade arms, to be deployed against the security forces in India’s Naxal affected areas,” said NIA officials.
The state police subsequently handed over the case to the NIA in view of its major inter-state security implications for the country.
As part of its continuing investigations in the Cherla drone case, as it has come to be known, the NIA on Saturday raided eight locations in the two states of Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
“Searches at the premises of the accused at five places in Warangal and two in Bhadradri Kothagudam in Telangana, as well as one place in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, led to the seizure of several digital devices and incriminating documents,” NIA maintained.
A detailed examination of the devices and documents is underway to unravel the accused’s involvement in extending logistic support to CPI (Maoist).
“The accused were prima facie providing raw materials to the proscribed organisation to further its anti-India agenda. The CPI (Maoist) has, in recent times, started employing modern tools and technology to carry out its violent terrorist activities in various states,” the officials added.
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