Rights group condemn NIA raids targeting activists in West Bengal over alleged ‘Maoist links’ : Valley Vision
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A coalition of civil society organizations, Campaign Against State Repression, has “strongly” condemned raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday morning at 11 locations across West Bengal, targeting the homes of various activists amid claims of “Maoist links.”
In its official statement, NIA confirmed the raid in the “CPI (Maoist) Revival Conspiracy Case”. The CPI (Maoist) and all its front organizations formations have been included in the list of banned terrorist organizations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, of 1967.
The operation involved the seizure of mobile phones and laptops, with reports of properties being ransacked during searches.
Among those targeted were noted figures such as independent filmmaker Abhijnan Sarkar, trade union activist Sudipta Pal, rights advocates Bipasha Sarkar and Sipra Chakraborty, journalist Prasenjit Chakraborty, and Siddheswar Biswas, a member of the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP). These individuals are recognized for their work on student issues, women’s rights, labour rights, and the advocacy of political prisoners, CASR said in a statement shared on Wednesday.
NIA teams searched the houses of suspects in South 24 Pargana, Asansol, Howrah, Nadia and Kolkata districts of the state.
According to NIA, the conspiracy is aimed at reviving, expanding and propagating the ideology of CPI (Maoist) in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and other states in the northern and eastern regions of India. A total of six accused, including CPI (Maoist) Polit Bureau members Prashant Bose and Pramod Mishra, and Central Committee Sabyasachi Goswami, have so far been arrested in the case, registered at NIA Police Station Ranchi in April 2022, under various sections of IPC and UA(P) Act.
Thirteen top CPI (Maoist) leaders were named in the FIR along with others.
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