NIA charge sheets three Maoist guerrillas in 2023 Kerala forest office attack
New Delhi: Three Maoists guerillas from the Kabani Dalam squad were named in the charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a Special Kerala court in connection with the armed attack on the Kerala Forest Department Corporation (KFDC) office at Wayanad in 2023, said an official on Saturday.
The charge sheet was filed before the Special Court, Ernakulam, against the three members of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) terrorist organisation on Friday.
Those named in the chargesheet are C.P. Moideen alias Girish alias Salil alias Sajan, Manoj P.M. alias Ashique, and P.K. Soman alias Shahid alias Akbar.
They have been charged under various sections of the IPC, Arms Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, Kerala Forest Act, 1961 and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, said an NIA official.
A total of five members of CPI (Maoist), armed with deadly weapons, had unlawfully assembled and criminally trespassed into the KFDC office on September 28, 2023, said the chargesheet.
They had restrained the KFDC Manager and damaged public property and equipment using iron rods. Raising Maoist slogans, the men had also pasted CPI (Maoist) posters in the office premises, it said.
After the incident, four attackers were arrested subsequently by the law enforcement agencies, and one had surrendered before the police.
The NIA, which took over the case a few days later, found during the investigation that C.P. Moideen, Manoj P.M., and P.K. Sonam, along with H. S. Ravindra alias Kotehonda Ravialias alias Manoj alias Ramu and Santhosh Kumar A alias Sandhosh Kumar alias Raja, were members of the Military Wing People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of CPI (Maoist).
They had formed a local guerrilla squad named Kabani Dalam in Wayanad forests, and were actively engaged in acts of terrorism, aimed at spreading fear among the public and destabilising the government. The attack at KFDC was part of their violent anti-national agenda, the NIA said.