Funding of pan-India LWE outfits: NIA conducting raids in seven places in Bengal

KOLKATA — The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting raids since Tuesday morning, at seven locations in West Bengal in connection with funding of Maoists or Left Wing Extremist (LWE) groups operating out of Chhattisgarh.

Sources said that raids are being conducted in Sodepur and Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas district and Asansol in West Burdwan district.

Each team of the raiding NIA officials is escorted by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel.

The main focus of the NIA sleuths, sources added, are self-proclaimed social workers Manabesh Chakraborty, Shipra Chakraborty and Sudipta Paul, who, the investigating officials believe, are “Urban Naxalites” involved in arranging funds for the LWE groups.

Also under the scanner of investigating officials is Avigyan Sarkar, a self-proclaimed research scholar and an alumnus of Kolkata’s iconic Jadavpur University.

Sources said that the search operations since Tuesday morning are being conducted on the basis of specific clues that all four persons, though operating mainly from West Bengal, have a nexus with pan-India LWE organisations, especially those active in Chhattisgarh.

The investigating officials are trying to pinpoint the exact points-of-contact with the pan-India LWE groups.

Sources said that the NIA has got information that besides arranging funds for the LWE groups, these four individuals are suspected of being involved in brainwashing educated youths to join the Maoist movements.

Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will completely eradicate LWE from the country by March 2026.

He also underlined the necessity to give more impetus to the campaign against LWE and emphasised that there is a need to work with twice the speed and intensity that was there at the beginning of the operations against Naxalism, to completely eradicate the menace from the country.