In a first, the Centre has ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to crack down on the arms network of the CPI(Maoist) as recent investigations have unearthed foreign links to rebels’ arms trail with destinations in West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. Alarm bells started ringing in the Union home ministry after the arrest of Maoist technical committee head Sadanala Ramakrishna known as “Techie Anna” along with four other rebels from Kolkata in March this year. This is the first case related to the activities of the CPI(Maoist) in the country which will be probed by the NIA. The NIA was set up in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks to probe crimes impacting national security.
The MHA has asked the West Bengal government to hand over the probe of “Techie Anna’’ case to the NIA as it may have cross border and inter-state ramifications. Notably, Techie Anna, a mechanical engineer and CPI (Maoist) central committee member, was incharge of West Bengal and Orissa to supervise the procurement of arms and ammunitions after the death of top Maoist commander Koteshwar Rao, alias Kishenji. He headed the rebels’ central technical committee responsible for manufacturing and buying weapons, ammunition and explosives and supplying them to guerrilla units across the country. Sources said Maoist central committee had allotted `200 crores to strengthen its arsenal.
The MHA has also decided to hand over to the NIA two more Naxal cases of seizure of sophisticated ammunition suspected to be procured from foreign countries and wireless network communications from the Naxals. The probe into the Maoists’ arms chain has revealed that Orissa, currently reeling under the hostage crisis with BJD MLA Jinna Hikkaka being held captive by the rebels, is becoming a major destination of arms and ammunition being procured by the banned outfit.
Ramakrishna is a major catch for the security agencies. A native of Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, he did his B. Tech in mechanical engineering from the REC in Warangal in 1976 and went underground in 1978. He rose to become the Andhra state secretary of People’s War, which later merged with the Maoist Communist Centre in 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist).