Ranchi: Mantu Sharma, who is accused of supplying foreign-made weapons to Naxalites in Jharkhand, remains on the run. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is making continuous efforts to capture him.
Mantu Sharma hails from Aurangabad district in Bihar and was allegedly involved in supplying foreign weapons to the CPI-Maoists in Jharkhand.
The revelation came to light during a police raid in the Silodar forest area of Hazaribagh district in August 2012. During the operation, the police arrested Pradfull Kumar Malakar, who was allegedly involved in supplying weapons and ammunition to Maoists.
From Malakar, the police seized an M-16 rifle made in the USA, 14 live cartridges, two mobile phones, and a bulletproof jacket. After interrogating Malakar, the police arrested another accused, Anil Kumar Yadav.
Anil Yadav, a Maoist zonal commander, was arrested while attempting to purchase weapons from Malakar. The police recovered a 9mm pistol, two live cartridges, Rs 9 lakh in cash, and two mobile phones from Yadav.
According to the NIA investigation, Mantu Sharma was involved in selling illegal weapons and ammunition to Maoist members. He, along with Malakar and Anil Yadav, was in contact with each other during these operations. The NIA court has already sentenced Mantu Sharma, but he continues to remain absconding.