All the accused have been charged under several non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an official said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has named Trinamool Congress member Chhatradhar Mahato and 12 others in its chargesheet in the 2009 Rajdhani Express hostage case. An official of the investigating agency gave this information on Friday.
It has named Mahto, who was the convener of the Maoist-backed People Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), as the prime accused along with his brother Shashadhar Mahato and late Maoist commander Kishenji in a 50-page chargesheet filed before the NIA. special court on Thursday, the official said.
He said that all the accused have been charged under several non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Kishenji was killed on November 24, 2011, in an operation by the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), assisted by over 1,000 members of the Central Reserve Police Force, who fought a forest fire in West Midnapore district near the Bengal-Jharkhand border. The area was surrounded.
Chhatradhar Mahtao, one of the frontline leaders of the Lalgarh movement, was arrested by the West Bengal Police in September 2009, in connection with a landmine blast set up for the then K convoy by Maoists at Salboni in 2008. was introduced as a journalist. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the then Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Santosh Patra took over the leadership of PCPA after his arrest.
The New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express was taken hostage a month later on October 27, 2009 by the PCPA, which kidnapped two train drivers near Banstala in West Midnapore district for allegedly violating Rail Roko calls. Was.
Mahto, who was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to life imprisonment, was released from prison after 11 years in February 2020. He had joined the ruling Trinamool Congress soon after his release. However, he was arrested by the NIA on March 26 this year, a day after the polling at Junglemahal.
The charge sheet has been filed within 180 days of the arrest, the official said.
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