NIA searches ‘Maoist wings’, rights activists in T & AP

Hyderabad: As part of investigation into the alleged Munchingput Maoist conspiracy case, National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at seven locations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Searches were conducted on alleged frontal organisations, rights activists and Maoist sympathisers, including CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member Akkiraju Haragopal alias RK’s wife Kandula Sirisha at Hyderabad in Telangana, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Rajahmundry, Kurnool, Kadapa and Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh.
On November 23, 2020, Munchingput police (Visakhapatnam Rural in Andhra Pradesh) had intercepted one Pangi Naganna, who was travelling on his motorcycle towards Basuput village. Police searched Naganna and found revolutionary literature, press notes, medicines, wire bundles and other suspicious materials on his person. Police accused him of working for Maoist Andhra-Odisha Border special zonal committee.
NIA sources said the agency had taken over the case from the Munchingput police and re-registered an FIR on March 7, 2021, and slapped charges for criminal conspiracy, waging a war against the nation, sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Andhra Pradesh Public Security Act and the Arms Act.
On Wednesday, NIA conducted searches on the houses of Varalakshmi of Virasam (Revolutionary Writers’ Association) in Proddutur of Kadapa, ballader Dappu Ramesh, formerly working for Jana Natya Mandali in Gudimlakpur, high court advocate V Raghunath at Dilsukhnagar, John of Jawaharnagar, all three in Hyderabad, Civil Liberties Committee vice-president Chittibabu in Rajahmundry, APCLC general secretary Chilaka Chandrashekar in Sattenapally, Sirisha Kandula of Alakurapadu of Prakasam, Pinakapanai of Virasam and Somasehkar Sharma alias Arun of Virasam, Kurnool.
Earlier, on interrogation, Naganna reportedly confessed to the Munchingput police that he had been working as a journalist and passing on information about police movement to Maoists.
The FIR had named 64 persons, including Maoist central committee member Akkiraju Haragopal, other senior Maoists like P Ramachandra Reddy, Gajarla Ravi and others, as accused in the case, dubbed as Munchingput conspiracy case.
High court advocate Balla Ravindranath condemned the searches and described them as illegal.
“A quash petition is being filed in the high court in this case,” he said. Civil Liberties Committee president B Lakshman said, “The searches were aimed at intimidating and harming rights activists. The FIR contents are cooked up.”

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