MUMBAI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday framed charges against four people allegedly involved in the 2019 Gadchiroli blast, which killed 15 police personnel and a civilian driver.
The accused, Sathyanarayana Rani, Parasram Maniram Tulavi, Somsay Dalasay Madavi, and Kisan Sitaram Hidami, were produced before the additional sessions judge CS Baviskar on Friday. After the charges were read out and explained to them, they pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.
The four have been charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes (MCOC) Act, and the Explosive Substances Act, among others. Charges against them include conspiracy, murder, waging war against the government of India, rioting, unlawful assembly, obstructing public servants, and carrying out terrorist acts or providing support to terrorist organisations.
The case stems from an attack on May 1, 2019, when a police vehicle carrying members of the Maharashtra Police’s Quick Response Team (QRT) was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) near Lendhari village in Gadchiroli district. The blast destroyed the vehicle and killed all 15 policemen inside, along with the driver. According to the police report, the explosion occurred soon after an incident where alleged Naxalites had set fire to the vehicles of a private company in the area.
Investigators alleged that the assault was a conspiracy by the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a party that has been banned in the country with its organisations officially designated as terrorist organisations in 2009. The police said that members of the party carried out the blast to avenge the killing of 40 alleged Naxalites in an encounter with security forces in April 2018. The NIA later took over the probe, describing the attack as an organised crime committed by an armed syndicate.
{{/usCountry}}Investigators alleged that the assault was a conspiracy by the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a party that has been banned in the country with its organisations officially designated as terrorist organisations in 2009. The police said that members of the party carried out the blast to avenge the killing of 40 alleged Naxalites in an encounter with security forces in April 2018. The NIA later took over the probe, describing the attack as an organised crime committed by an armed syndicate.
{{/usCountry}}The investigating agency had originally named the senior operative of the party, Uppuganti Nirmalkumari, also known as Narmada Akka, as the principal accused and the head of the syndicate. However, she died in 2022 due to cancer. The initial NIA chargesheet noted that she had been involved in at least 23 serious criminal cases in the earlier decade, including murder, arson, and ambushes against police forces.
Another key accused, 74-year-old Sathyanarayana Rani, was arrested from Hyderabad in June 2019. Investigators seized electronic devices and cash from her house, and alleged that she had attended a July 2018 meeting where the conspiracy to target security personnel was planned. Although the Bombay High Court granted her bail on medical grounds in July 2022, it upheld the framing of charges against her on July 10 last year, dismissing her plea for discharge.
With the charges framed, the trial against the four accused is expected to start on October 17.
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