Ranchi police arrested three members of People’s liberation Front of India (PlFI) on Tuesday night from Tupudana and recovered country made arms and a note written on the letterhead of the organization. The arrested members — Amar Munda, Sikandar Hazam and Vijay Munda — for the organisation to spread terror among land brokers to extort money earned in land deal.
The arrest is a setback for the dreaded organisation that is said to be responsible for the murder of a 40-year-old land broker near Tuppudana Chowk on June 19.
“They used to live in a rented premise and were involved in creating terror in the name of the outfit in Tupudana. Their main targets were land brokers,” said City SP Anoop Birtharay.
The police confiscated arms, ammunitions and most the significant piece of evidence- the letterhead- issuing threat to land brokers to contact else face consequences. The letter undersigned by sub-zonal commander of PlFI, Jetha Kacchap threatened to shoot a land broker for defying the diktat. Few copies of receipt were also recovered by the district police. The receipts were issued against the levy payment made to the outfit.
The three arrested criminals were also the interface between the organisation and land brokers. The terror outfit started gaining foothold in the region after assassination of Ashok Nath Shahdeo, a land broker, near Tupudana Chowk in Jagannathpur. The three persons are suspected behind the murder of Shahdeo. The land broker was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne criminals when he was sitting in his SUV. The incident had taken place around 9.45 pm on June 19.
“Those arrested have criminal antecedents and were active in Khunti prior to shifting base to Tupudana,” added the City SP.
Meanwhile, the City SP rubbished the media reports of a loot of `20-lakh from a builder, Chitranjan Kumar, on Tuesday night near FCI godown in Kadru. According to Birtharay, the loot could be in the range of `2 lakh. The builder’s vehicle was recovered from SBI ATM in Doranda.
“He was in an inebriated state. He said `2 lakh was missing from his vehicle,” maintained Birtharay.
Incidentally, police is investigating the angle of a property dispute behind the murder of Ratan Gope in Namkum. Gope was murdered yesterday morning while he was returning after dropping his son at Bishop Westcot School in Namkum. According to reports he was being pressurised by land sharks to sell his land in Jorar village under Namkum.