Naxal supremo’s disclosure leads to major seizure of explosives, arms from Jharkhand

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with Jharkhand state police, has seized a huge cache of explosives, arms, and ammunition over the past two days. The seizures are connected with the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) terror funding case, the agency said on Wednesday.

The investigative agencies conducted raids in the Khunti, Gumla, and Simdega districts of Jharkhand on Monday and Tuesday. These were based on disclosures made by Dinesh Gope, the self-styled leader of the PLFI. Gope was arrested by the NIA on 21 May.

Gope has been in NIA custody for the last eight days; the PFLI leader had been absconding before he was caught in New Delhi. Dinesh Gope, alias Kuldeep Yadav, alias Badku of Khunti district had earlier been charge-sheeted by the NIA relating to the recovery of demonetised currency worth Rs 25.38 lakhs from PLFI operatives.

On Monday, information provided by the naxal leader led the NIA and state police to recover about 62.3 kg of Gelatin and 732 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition from the Khunti district; authorities also seized one pistol, 11 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition and 30 rounds of .303 ammunition from the Gumla district.

On Tuesday, the NIA said it had seized two IEDs from a forest hill in the Simdega district- the third such seizure in less than a week. Last week, large amounts of ammunition (1,245 rounds of 7.62 mm and 271 rounds of 5.56 mm) were recovered as a result of investigations following Gope’s arrest.

Gope has been accused of extorting money and coordinating attacks to terrorise and intimidate businessmen, contractors, and the public at large. “The accused, along with his associates, was involved in depositing the demonetised currency in a bank account at a petrol pump, to be later collected through levy and extortion,” the NIA said in a statement. “The illegal money was then invested through banking channels and dubious shell companies in the name of [his] close associates and family members.”

Known previously as Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), the PLFI is responsible for hundreds of terror incidents in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha including several murders using illicit weapons.