The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two Naxals, including a woman, in connection with the 2019 Tiriya encounter case of Chhattisgarh. The incident claimed the lives of six Naxals and one civilian. The duo, B.Ch. Padma and Dubasi Devender, were picked up by the NIA after extensive investigations into the case. The NIA has so far detained four accused in the case.
Padma alias Modem Padma, previously active as Divisional Committee Member of CPI (Maoist) or Naxals, was currently acting as a Coordinator between Front organisations and the CPI (Maoist). She was also spreading the ideology of the banned outfit. On the other hand, Devender was closely associated with CPI (Maoist) cadres operating in the core area. He was also acting as a courier for CPI (Maoist) and was secretly transporting their communications.
NIA investigations revealed that both the accused arrested on Sunday were closely involved with the top leadership of naxals in furtherance of their anti-national activities. The agency had earlier recovered several incriminating materials related to the activities of naxal cadres during searches conducted at the premises of the two accused.
The encounter took place in July 2019 when a Joint team of the local District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force, and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had travelled to the forest area near Tiriya in PS Nagarnar area of Jagdalpur District in Chhattisgarh. They had gone there after receiving inputs that a group of naxal cadres had gathered with the intention to perpetrate a big incident on July 28, which is observed as Shaheed Diwas. Following the encounter, the security forces had recovered arms and ammunition, as well as several incriminating handwritten documents, literature, etc., from the site. The case was initially registered on July 28, 2019, under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It was re-registered by NIA on March 18, 2021.
