NIA terms Chhattisgarh police move illegal
OFFICIALS SAID THE STATE GOVT’S MOVE HAS PUT THE BRAKES ON NIA PROBE. THEY ADDED THE ISSUE CAN BE RESOLVED WHEN THE POLICE STOPS THEIR INVESTIGATION
NEWDELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was planning a “major action”, including choking funding to top Maoist leadership, as part of an ongoing legal process when the Chhattisgarh government in May claimed jurisdiction in the probe into the 2013 Jheerum Ghati attack in which top leaders of the Congress (then the party in power in the state) were among 27 killed, the anti-terror agency’s officials familiar with the matter said.
Former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla was among those killed when Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Jheerum Ghati. NIA took over the probe into the case two days after the attack .
The officials said the state government’s move has put the brakes on NIA’S probe .
They added the issue can be resolved when the Chhattisgarh police stops the parallel investigation.
NIA has called the Chhattissearches garh police’s refusal to hand over a new First Information Report (FIR) registered in the case in May to the federal agency “illegal”. The two sides are staring at a long legal battle over the issue.
The agency has told a Jabalpur NIA court that a charge sheet was filed in the case against nine people in September 2014 and has sought directions to the Chhattisgarh police to hand over the new FIR. It has said a trial was going on and 45 prosecution witnesses have been examined since a supplementary charge sheet was filed against 30 people in September 2015.
NIA has told the court about
at residential premises of 25 accused with the help of local police and the Central Reserve Police Force. HT has seen the court documents.
The officials cited above said that they are working on taking the action against Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji, a Central Committee member of the Maoists and in charge of the South Regional Unified Command, Paka Hanumanthu alias Ganesh Uwike, head of ther South Regional Unified Committee, Soma Sodhi, secretary, Darbha Division, and Barse Sukka alias Deva, absconding since planning the attack.
An NIA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the agency named all main perpetrators in the two charge sheets and efforts were going on to arrest them.
“We have information about their properties and their activities; our probe is in an advanced stage and we announced rewards on all absconding persons. It is a massive investigation which takes time and evidence. Our investigations are not on the basis of hearsay. The Chhattisgarh police’s FIR has no legal basis. They should handover the FIR to us,” the official said.
The agency told the court the Chhattisgarh police were violating the NIA Act’s Section 6 by not handing over the FIR. The section prohibits state governments from proceeding with investigations into cases entrusted to NIA.
Chhattisgarh police inspector general (Bastar) P Sundarraj said the police have registered the case on the basis of a complaint from a local resident and they will be investigating it. “We have already submitted our view in the court,” added Sundarraj.
Jitendra Mudaliyar, the son of Congress leader Uday Mudaliyar, who was killed in the attack, filed the fresh FIR in May.
The state government has maintained NIA did not probe the conspiracy angle to the attack in which almost the entire state Congress leadership was wiped out.
The Congress returned to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2018.