new delhi the national investigation agency has arrested an accused subhan miran in its probe related to maoists fundingmiran an employee of central coalfields limited ccl was found involved in the conspiracy of extortion by tpc tritiya prastuti committee an organization associated with the maoistsnia says it has found incriminating evidence establishing mirans role in planning and organizing meetings between top leaders of tpc central coalfields limited ccl and village committee members of amrapali and magadh coalfieldsthe agency had raided 15 locations in jharkhand and west bengal last month as part of its larger probe into left wing extremism terror lwe terror fundingtoi had exclusively reported on september 14 that after crippling the kashmir terror funding nia is going for a major crackdown on maoists fundingan internal investigation report prepared by nia states that maoists collected crores through different sources in 90 odd naxalismaffected districts but most of the funds are used by the naxals leadership for their personal gains investment in the real estate bullion and businessesthe nia report states that the lwe groups collect money from individuals small business houses big industries tendu patta contractors government works like railway road bridge school and community centresin the coal and steel producing areas naxals extort money from stone crusher owners transporters and local contractors they also collect funds in the form of membership fee from villagers while ration supply daily need items are taken from sympathizersthey rob banks kidnap people and loot publicprivate entities to augment their finances apart from putting a levy on various mining groups it addssometimes they also ask or threaten a local politician to provide logistics in large quantities in the form of clothing shoes rice lentils and oil which are passed on to the maoists through overground supportersaccording to a conservative estimate by different agencies maoists must be getting funding of rs 100 to rs 120 crore every year however nia is still trying to ascertain the exact amountmaoists have different ways of parking or hiding their money nia probe has found while in some cases money is left with the source itself and collected whenever required large amounts are neatly packed in multiple layers of polythene kept inside a metal box and then concealed in the forest by digging pits in several areas the money is parked with the trustworthy overground sympathizers and frontmenthis money nia says maoists are spending in different ways they are converting the funds into gold biscuits fixed deposits purchase of real state which includes flats plots and other immovable properties explaining the modus operandi nia asserts that the money is given to the real estate agents who are perhaps trustworthy former radicals or cadres who would invest it in their businesses and return the money to the maoists as and when demandeda large amount nia has found is also being used for the higher education of the children of top naxalite leaders this officials say has lately become the reason for differences between senior maoist leadership