Ranchi Police arrested seven operatives of People’s liberation Front of India (PlFI) from the residence of outfit’s area commander Virendra Baitha on Wednesday. A huge cache of firearms and weapons has been seized from their possession.
Along with Baitha, police also arrested Surendra Bhagat, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Gope, Prakash Kumar, Meghnath Yadav and Tinku lohra. Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided Baitha’s house in Malti village under Mandar police station on Wednesday, where the arrested extremists were gathered.
Five country-made pistols, six live cartridges, eight mobile phones, a motorcycle, daggers and sword were recovered from them. The arrested rebels have been booked under provisions of Arms Act and 17 Criminal law Amendment Act in Mandar police station.Baitha confessed to setting ablaze an earthmover machine in Umedanda under Burmu police station on May 21 after their demands for levies were turned down by its owner. He has been to prison on charges of extortion in 2009 and dowry murder in 2010.
“With these arrests, most of the identified PlFI top rebels have been apprehended by us,” stated Kuldeep Dwivedi, Senior Superintendent of Police for Ranchi during a press conference on Thursday.Meanwhile, Ranchi police also nabbed a gang of cons who used to cheat people into transferring money to their bank account which they used to open using fake documents. Nitish Kumar, the brains behind the group, was arrested along with Pintu Kumar, Sanjay Prasad, Monu Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Ravi Kumar Sahu.
“Nitish was caught trying to open a bank account at Bariatu branch of Canara Bank using bogus documents, which came to attention of our patrolling team in the area. On apprehending him, he disclosed the location of his accomplices. He told us that they used to swindle people into transferring money to these fake accounts in the guise of lotteries,” stated Dadar DSP Vikas Chandra Srivastav.
Police recovered 19 fake voter identity cards, 23 fake driving licences, documents of nine bank accounts, eight mobile phones, 14 SIM cards, eight cheque books and nine ATM cards .