India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges against a key suspect in a violent clash between CPI (Maoist) rebels and security forces in Jharkhand earlier this year. Officials announced the move on Saturday from Ranchi.
The suspect, Abhijeet Koda—also known by aliases like Sunil Koda, Matla Koda, and Matlu—comes from Bihar’s Jamui district. Authorities charged him under several tough laws, including the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, the 1908 Criminal Law Amendment Act, and the powerful Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) of 1967. The NIA submitted the chargesheet to a special court in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Investigators say Koda worked as an armed member of the banned CPI (Maoist) group. He joined a bigger plot to carry out terrorist attacks and grow the Maoist network, teaming up with top leaders. Koda served as a courier and messenger for senior commanders, helping push their expansion plans and illegal operations.
The case stems from a tense February 2024 operation in the dense Sundari Pahari forest area of Bokaro district, Jharkhand. Jharkhand Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a search based on tips that 15-20 armed Naxal cadres were hiding there. The rebels planned to recruit young locals, collect illegal taxes, and target security personnel with crimes and attacks.
When forces moved in, the Maoists fired wildly, and the teams fired back in self-defense. The rebels slipped away into the thick woods, but security personnel grabbed key evidence from the spot. That included a laptop with charger, a pen drive, wireless handset, FM radio receiver, a list of phone numbers, Naxal propaganda materials, batteries, a portable scanner, live and spent bullets, gunpowder, pellets, and a gun striker.
The NIA stepped in to lead the probe in June 2024. Officials now say they’re digging deeper into the wider Maoist conspiracy and their connections across the group.
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