NIA Chargesheets Key Members in Kerala Maoist Recruitment Case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary chargesheet against two individuals in the Kerala case concerning the 2022 recruitment of youth into the armed wing of the banned CPI (Maoist) terrorist organization. An official statement was released on Thursday.

The chargesheet, filed before the NIA special court in Ernakulam, names R Ragavendran alias Raghavendra and B G Krishnamurthy alias Vijay alias Babanna. The case, registered suo moto by the NIA in February 2022, focuses on recruitment into the CPI (Maoist) and its armed wing, the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA). It also involves organizing camps to support activities of the Maoist group and its frontend outfit to destabilize the nation, according to the NIA.

Krishnamurthy, a central committee member of the CPI (Maoist), was responsible for providing arms and ideological training in the Western Ghats. Hailing from Karnataka's Chikkamangalur district, he was part of the Kabani Dalam squad to organize terror training camps. Ragavendran from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, was also involved, investigations revealed.

(With inputs from agencies.)