Ongoing drive against the PlFI will be intensified in its strongholds like Khunti, Simdega and Gumla. In order to flush out the PlFI cadres from these districts, additional forces may also be deployed once the elections are over in the state. DIG Praveen Kumar has directed the SPs of these districts to take adequate measures in this regard.
“As per the directions of DIG, the ongoing operations against PlFI will be intensified in our areas,” said SP Simdega Rajiv Ranjan Singh. In Simdega, the organisation is being headed by Vikram Gope alias ‘Barood,’ added Singh.
“Although, the situation is under control in my area, ongoing operations however, will be continued till they are finished completely,” Singh said. According to Singh, he does not require any extra deployment of forces in Simdega.
The special drive however, will be conducted on the inter-State borders of Khunti district for which extra forces may also be deployed in the region.
“To intensify the ongoing drive against the PlFI in Khunti, some extra security forces will be required in the district,” said Khunti SP Sudarshan Prasad Mandal.
Chief Secretary Sajal Chakravarty, calling them a gang of criminals involved in extorting money from the locals, had also expressed the need to make all efforts by the state police to finish them from the region.
Khunti has been notorious in terms of turf war between Maoists and its splinter groups. People’s liberation front of India (PlFI) one of the banned extremist outfit enjoys dominance over a large stretch of these districts. Maximum number of innocent people has been killed in the area in the last few years. According to national crimes record bureau and Jharkhand police records 109 people were killed in 2013 and a total of 498 people have been killed in last five years in the district.