NIA attaches house of absconding Naxal leader Ravinder Ganjhu

New Delhi [India], November 1 : In a significant move, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached an immovable property belonging to the absconding Naxal leader, Ravinder Ganjhu, the agency said on Wednesday.
Ganjhu is carrying a bounty of Rs 20 lakh on his head, officials said.
The immovable property, a house, was attached as per the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in a case pertaining to the arrest of the leaders and cadres of naxals and the seizure of arms and ammunition.
NIA investigations revealed that Ganjhu invested funds obtained through extortion and illegal collection from local contractors and businessmen in the construction of this property.
The investigation in this case established that the house, located in the Banjhitoli area under the Chandwa police station in Latehar district, had been illicitly constructed by Ganjhu.
This house was built with the active involvement of Ganjhu's close associate and co-accused, Raju Kumar, also known as Raju Sahu, a resident of Jharkhand's Lohardaga district.
Ganjhu, a resident of Hesla Banjhitoli village in Jharkhand's Latehar district, is a prominent naxal leader and Regional Committee Member of the proscribed terrorist organisation, CPI (Maoist), the NIA said.
Ganjhu was involved in several terrorist acts committed by naxals and his extensive criminal involvement led to the registration of more than 55 cases against him across various police stations in Jharkhand.
The Jharkhand government has announced a reward of Rs 15 lakh for any information leading to the apprehension of Ganjhu, while the NIA has declared an additional reward of Rs 5 lakh.
The case in which Ganjhu's property is attached is linked to an operation that took place under the jurisdiction of the Peshawar police station in the Lohardaga district of Jharkhand. During this operation, a gathering of naxal members, including Ganjhu, was detected in the forest area of Bulbul.
It was revealed that this assembly of naxal leaders and cadres, consisting of individuals such as Balram Oraon, Muneshwar Ganjhu, Balak Ganjhu, Dinesh Nagesia, Aghnu Ganjhu, Lajim Ansari, Markush Nagesia, Sanjay Nagesia, Sheela Kherwar, Lalita Devi, and an estimated 45-60 additional cadres, had congregated with the intention of carrying out incidents against security forces operating in the area, including the Bauxite Mines Area.
Accordingly, a joint operation by the local police and Central Reserve Police Force was conducted and during the search, active naxal cadres fired indiscriminately upon the security forces en route to Bahabar Forest, at Harkatta Toli and Banglapat. Following the encounter, an extensive search of the area surrounding the incident site led to the discovery of a large cache of arms, ammunition, explosives, and other related items.
The case was initially filed on February 21 last year at Peshrar police station in Lohardaga district.
The initial case was filed under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act 1908, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UA(P) Act) against 17 accused individuals and unidentified armed cadres affiliated with the Naxals.
The NIA subsequently re-registered the case on June 14 last year.