The police records say there has been an alarming rise in the number of incidents committed by the PlFI as compared to the Maoists. Moreover, the crime statistics of the last few years indicate that the PlFI has become a bigger threat for the police than the Maoists.
“Incidents of the PlFI in the last few years have gone up to 40-44 per cent, which earlier used to be less that 12-14 per cent,” said ADG (Modernisation) and Jharkhand Police spokesperson SN Pradhan. They have become a bigger headache causing more damage than the Maoists, he added.
Pradhan also accepted that the Maoists used to confine themselves in the remote jungles and strike once in a while which was generally focussed against the police forces, but the PlFI has been found involved in the more than 45 per cent rebels attacks targeting not only the police, but the civilians also.
“They are also creating a sense of anarchy among the people of the state. The Maoists were less damaging than the PlFI, who have basically turned into criminal groups,” added Pradhan.
According to Pradhan, the Maoist leaders were confined in the jungles and used to attack the police forces but the PlFI are involved in ordinary extortion and wanton killings especially in the southern part of the state including Ranchi.
“In 2013 only, they have been found involved in as many as 65 criminal activities including 39 killings, which is really a shocking information,” he said.
No wonder, in a strategic move towards the PlFI, Jharkhand Police has decided to hit them at their strongholds through small action teams comprising 10 to 20 police personnel. Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Kumar on Saturday reviewed the situation of splinter groups in the South Chotanagpur range at Torpa in Khunti along with the SPs of Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla, lohardaga and Simdega for chalking out the future strategy against them.
“I have directed all the SPs to carry out focussed operations against these splinter groups as they are very small in number and also scattered across the area,” said the DGP. Smaller action groups of security forces will be able to strike on them immediately as and when required in a very short notice, added the DGP. The team will comprise not more than 10 to 20 security forces into it, he added.
According to the DGP, the idea of holding the meetings in the remote areas like Torpa in Khunti, Padma in Hazaribagh and Petarwar in Bokaro, is to understand the ground level problems faced by the police personnel and also to convey a positive message among the people of the district that the police are with them.
“We will rather go to the range headquarters of the state, in spite of calling them here in Ranchi. This also helps us to focus on the area in a better way and review of the district becomes easy for us,” Kumar said. It becomes easy to concentrate on the rebel groups of the area and their leaders, he added.
During the power point presentation given by the SPs which went on for more than three hours, the DGP also reviewed the security status of the police stations of the range and directed the officials to ensure that they are properly fortified to prevent any attack from the rebel group.