Tribal activist charge-sheeted by NIA for ‘promoting’ Maoist activities

Besides Pottam, who was arrested last year, the three others charge-sheeted have been identified as Shankar Muchaki and Dashrath alias Dasru Modiyam – both members of the MBM.

According to the investigators, the fourth accused, Mallesh Kunjam, was an armed cadre of CPI (Maoist) and is absconding.

The four are among six people arrested in the case. The NIA accuses them of collection, storage and disbursal of funds for the CPI (Maoist).

The development has drawn condemnation from the People’s Union for Civil Liberty (PUCL), which, in a statement issued at the time of Pottam’s arrest, called it “harassment of Moolwasi Bachao Manch members and other activists in Bastar”.

According to the NIA, MBM was banned by the Chhattisgarh Government under section 3 (1) of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, in October last year.

The case pertains to May 2023, following the alleged recovery of Rs 6 lakh from two more accused in the case — Gajendra and Laxman.

Bijapur Police had charge sheeted Gajendra Madvi and Laxman Kunjam in November 2023. Investigators claim the two were on their way to deposit the funds in various bank accounts at the behest of CPI (Maoist) leaders at the time of their arrest.

The NIA took over the case in February 2024 and filed its first supplementary chargesheet in August 2025. “Fresh charges were filed against Gajendra and Laxman, and another accused, Raghu Midiyami, was also charged in that chargesheet. NIA is continuing with its investigation in the case,” the NIA said in its latest statement.

“The organisation used these funds for staging protests against the democratically elected government and the development activities being carried out in the state. These illicit funds were being channelised through frontal organisations like MBM,” the statement said.