Two associates of banned Naxal organisation PLFI arrested in Jharkhand's Khunti

KHUNTI (JHARKHAND): Two associates of the banned Naxal organisation People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) were arrested on Thursday, a police official said.

"The police recovered a huge cache of arms and cartridges from the arrested Naxal's possession," said Aman Kumar, Supredentent of Police (SP) Khunti.

Further investigation is underway.

Earlier on May 21, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested the absconding self-styled supremo of the PLFI, a proscribed Naxal outfit of Jharkhand.

Dinesh Gope alias Kuldeep Yadav alias Badku was nabbed in New Delhi, said the NIA, adding “The accused had 102 criminal cases against him and carried a bounty of Rs 30 lakh.”

Gope, a resident of Khunti district in Jharkhand, was earlier charge-sheeted by the NIA in the case relating to the recovery of demonetized currency of Rs 25.38 lakh from the operatives of PLFI. He was absconding in the case which is among one of the two cases being investigated by the NIA’s Ranchi branch against the PLFI.

According to NIA investigations, more than 102 criminal cases are registered against Gope in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha, and most of these cases relate to murders, abductions, threats, extortion, and raising funds for the PLFI, a Maoist outfit formed in 2007 in Jharkhand and also a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

The NIA had also declared a reward of Rs 5 lakh for leads on Gope, in addition to the reward of Rs 25 lakh announced by the Jharkhand Government.