A National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Visakhapatnam has handed down a five-year prison term to three individuals involved in a terror conspiracy linked to the banned CPI (Maoist) organization. The convicted individuals, Dongari Devendra, Dubashi Swapna, and Chukka Shilpa, were associated with the Chaitanya Mahila Sangam (CMS), a group supporting CPI (Maoist), as per the NIA.
The court has imposed rigorous imprisonment of five years on each of the accused under various sections of the UA (P) Act, with the sentences to run concurrently. Additionally, a fine of Rs 2,000 has been levied on each accused for every section, with a possible six months of simple imprisonment in case of default in payment.
NIA had filed charges against the three convicts in December 2022, along with two senior Maoist cadres who are currently absconding. The case, initially under the Andhra Pradesh State Police, involves allegations of conspiracy, recruitment, support, and radicalization for CPI (Maoist).
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet recently approved the establishment of a special NIA court in Visakhapatnam with statewide jurisdiction, following a directive from the Supreme Court to set up such courts for expeditious handling of cases under the NIA Act. The move comes in light of the significant number of NIA cases in Visakhapatnam, with the High Court recommending the establishment of a dedicated NIA court at the District and Sessions Judge level.
