NIA arrests Maoist leaders under kidnapping case

HYDERABAD: National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested CPI (Maoist)'s frontal face party Chaithanya Mahila Sangm (CMS) leaders Dongari Devendra, Advocate Chukka Shilpa and Dubasi Swapna on Thursday, for allegedly kidnapping a nursing student and making her a part of the organisation. A case had been registered against the accused "for their involvement in motivating and recruiting youth for the proscribed organisation CPI (Maoist)".

During the searches, incriminating materials including digital devices have been seized.

The case was initially registered on January 1 at Peddabayalu Police Station, Visakhapatnam, after the girl's mother had lodges a complaint. According to the orders by the Ministry of Home Affairs, issued on May 31 this year, the NIA took over the case from Peddabayalu Police re-registered the case on June 3.

About three and half years ago, a college student, identified as Radha, went missing from her home in Vishakhapatnam. In January this year, her mother, Pallepati Pochamma, a resident of Kapra, had lodged a complaint with the Visakhapatnam police that leaders of CMS had met her in her college and influenced her to join CPI (Maoist). She alleged that in December 2017 Devendra has taken her away on the pretext of giving medical treatment to someone and she never returned. The family later learnt that she had joined the Maoist.