The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday conducted searches at eight places in Uttar Pradesh, including the home of human rights organisation People’s Union for Civil Liberties state unit chief Seema Azad.

Azad, who is also the national secretary of the organisation, lives in Prayagraj.

The raids were conducted in connection with a case pertaining to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the districts of Prayagraj, Varanasi, Chandauli, Azamgarh and Deoria, the National Investigation Agency said on Wednesday.

The PUCL said in a statement that Azad and her husband, advocate Vishwa Vijay, were interrogated by the National Investigation Agency.

The agency seized a laptop, mobile phones and books from their home.

The police stopped Vijay when he tried to speak to reporters during the raids.

“The PUCL is outraged that the house of its National Secretary and UP State President, Seema Azad, advocate, author and editor of Dastak, a monthly non-commercial magazine, was raided today,” the human rights organisation said.

It added that the National Investigation Agency’s action was an attempt to stifle the voices of a defender of human rights and democracy.

The agency also raided the office of the Bhagat Singh Students’ Morcha, a students’ organisation active in the Benaras Hindu University, Maktoob Media reported. The organisation’s president and joint secretary were interrogated and their phones were confiscated, according to Campaign Against State Repression, a joint front of 40 civil rights groups.

The rights body said that in Prayagraj, the National Investigation Agency also searched the homes of Ritesh Vidyarthi, convener of a workers’ group and political activist Manish Azad.

Seized ‘naxal literature’: NIA

In a statement, the investigating agency has alleged that it has seized “naxal literature”, books, pamphlets and other incriminating material during the raids.

“NIA investigations indicate that several frontal organisations and students wings have been tasked to motivate/recruit cadres and propagate the ideology of CPI (Maoist) with the intent of waging a war against the Government of India,” it alleged. “They were conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence in furtherance of this agenda.”

The agency also alleged that investigations showed that Pramod Mishra, who it claimed to a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), was leading cadres and sympathizers of the banned outfit to revive the terror organisation.

“The raids conducted on Tuesday in the case were at the premises of such cadres and OGWs [over Ground Workers] etc,” it added.