New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested another key accused involved in the murder of Chattisgarh BJP leader Ratan Dubey in 2023, an official statement issued on Friday said.

Dubey was hacked to death with a hand-axe by CPI (Maoist) members, with the aim of disrupting the free and fair election process and spreading terror among the local people, said the statement issued by the probe agency.

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"Shivanand Nag was actively involved in the murder conspiracy hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) terror outfit. He, along with members of the Bayanar and Barsoor Area Committees of the East Bastar Division, had conspired to kill Dubey during an election campaign in a crowded weekly market in Koushalnar village of district Narayanpur in November 2023," it said.

Three other accused were arrested and charge-sheeted earlier in the case, which NIA had taken over from the local police in February 2024.

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Investigations are continuing to identify and nab other conspirators involved in the brutal targeted killing, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)