New Delhi, May 29: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said that it has seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Jharkhand's Bokaro in connection with its ongoing probe into seizure of over 1,100 Aadhaar cards and guns from Maoists after an gunfight in March.
The case was registered by the Jharkhand Police on March 6 in Dumri police station of Giridih district.
AN NIA official said its team has recovered 10 .303 rifles, a 9mm carbine, a 9mm Browning pistol, one DBBL, two SBBL, Rs three lakh in cash, a large quantity of ammunition, levy receipts and other incriminating materials, from Lugu Pahar area of Bokaro, following a a tip off about the arms dump by the Maoist Mahavir Manjhi alias Charlees during interrogation.
"Upon receipt of the information, the NIA team, with the assistance of Jharkhand Police and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) recovered the above-mentioned weapons and other materials under section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act," the NIA official said.
Earlier, the Jharkhand Police had arrested 15 armed Maoist cadres including functionaries of CPI-Maoist from Dumri in Giridih and recovered 12 other weapons including AK-47, Insas, SLR and .303 rifles from them.
It said 60 ATM (SBI) cards, 199 letters of thanks issued by the Allahabad Bank for opening accounts and 1,125 Aadhaar cards were also recovered during the operation.
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Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.