NIA conducts raids in West Bengal, Jharkhand
Fifteen locations in West Bengal and Jharkhand were searched by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, in connection with a probe into the role of some companies allegedly involved in funding of a Maoist outfit Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), said the agency.
State police forces assisted the NIA teams during the searches, as it raided the residences and officers of managers of different companies.
The raids were conducted in Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, and Durgapur in West Bengal.
According to an NIA statement, the companies were associated with the purchase and supply of coal in Amrapali and Magadh coalfields in Jharkhand and were allegedly involved in funding the TPC.
Huge incriminating materials and documents were also seized by the anti-terror agency.
The documents were related to the payments made to Amrapali and Magadh area committees, bank account details and fixed deposits, deduction of levy amount, computers, hard discs, mobiles containing accounts of companies and diaries containing entries of money paid to TPC and Peoples Liberation Front of India during the raids.
The NIA also seized cash equivalent to Rs 68 lakh, besides 10,000 Singapore dollar and 1,300 USD, besides Rs 86,000 demonetized currency.
The NIA took over the case from Jharkhand Police, following which an FIR was registered in the case on February 16 this year after the Home Ministry had passed an order.
The Jharkhand Police had registered an FIR in the case on January 11, 2016.
