NIA begins to probe Maoist plan to make grenades

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun probe into an alleged Maoist plan to manufacture grenades that, it claims, became known after the seizure of "cylindrical shaped components" from two suspected rebels arrested in West Bengal.

Arjun Gunja and 61-year-old Mohan Vishwakarma, suspected to be members of the Central Technical Committee and the Technical Research and Arms Manufacturing Unit of CPI (Maoist), are said to be close to the top Maoist leadership. Vishwakarma, the NIA has alleged, was entrusted to procure arms and distribute them among the rebels.

Their interrogation led security forces to over 80 components of hand grenades stored in a workshop and a transport firm in Kolkata, the NIA has claimed in its FIR. The firm was to transport these parts to the rebels in the forests of Jharkhand and Chattishgarh where they would be assembled. West Bengal Police also allegedly busted hideouts on the outskirts of Kolkata that were being used by Maoists to assemble grenades. The NIA claimed to have unearthed a funding network for procurement, manufacture and supply of arms in which top Maoist leader Mupalla Laksman Rao alias Ganpathy was a vital cog.

The NIA will now seek remand of Gunja and Vishwakarma to confront them with Sadanula Ramakrishna, alleged Central Technical Committee head and brains behind the plan to transport grenade components to Maoist dominated areas of Jharkhand, Chattishgarh and Orissa. Ramakrishna was arrested in February 2012 for assembling rocket launchers and transporting them to Chattishgarh.

Source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/NIA-begins-to-probe-Maoist-plan-to-make-grenades/1101736/