KOZHIKODE: National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Maoist leader R Raghavendran alias Vinod Kumar alias Ravi Murukesh (32), hailing from Vellore in Tamil Nadu, from Valapattanam police station limits in Kannur on Sunday.
He was wanted by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) in connection with the Edakkara Maoist case for his alleged participation in the arms training camp conducted by CPI (Maoist) inside Nilambur forests in 2016.
Raghavendran was nabbed by Kannur police during a vehicle inspection carried out after receiving intelligence input that a person associated with Left-wing extremist organization was travelling in a jeep in the area. He was later handed over to NIA which recorded his arrest.
“Police intercepted a jeep and asked the three passengers about their name and details but they were not willing to share details. When they were taken into custody, one of them shouted Maoist slogans and later the police found that he had two Aadhaar cards with the same photo but different names. Later, we found out that he was wanted in connection with the Edakkara Maoist case,” said Kannur police chief R Ilango.
The case related to Maoist arms training camp was originally registered by Edakkara police in Malappuram in 2017 and was handed over to NIA in August 2021. The extremists had allegedly conducted a training camp, including arms training. A flag hoisting was held as part of foundation day of CPI (Maoist) during September 2016 inside Nilambur forest.
There were 19 accused in the case registered under various sections of IPC, Arms Act, UAPA and this included Kuppu Devaraj, Velmurugan and Ajitha, who were killed in an encounter with the Thunderbolt squad. Till date, NIA has arrested nine persons in connection with the case.
