ROURKELA: Thirty-six hours after a businessman in the bordering Raiboga was killed by Jharkhand-based People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), senior police officials of Sundargarh district in Odisha and Simdega district in Jharkhand met on Saturday to review the crime situation along Odisha-Jharkhand border.
Sundargarh SP, Dayanidhi Gochhait, accompanied by Birmitrapur SDPO PC Routray met Simdega SP Aseem Bikrant Minz and other officers at Birmitrapur town.
They discussed strategies on strengthening border security through joint operations against the PLFI.
PLFI is a banned splinter Maoist outfit of Jharkhand engaged in criminal extortion with a strong presence in at least 10 districts of Jharkhand. It is the second most largest outfit after the CPI (Maoist) and 11 bordering police stations, from Bisra to Talsara in Sundargarh, are also bearing the brunt of PLFI’s activities.
Gochhait said they discussed issues related to the increasing criminal activities in the bordering areas of Sundargarh and Simdega. The Sundargarh SP said after Thursday night’s murder, combing is underway to sanitise Raiboga of PLFI’s influence.
The outfit members had late on Thursday killed a rural businessman Sindhu Sagar Das (26). Around 15 armed PLFI members arrived at Majhapada village under Raiboga police limits in Sundargarh district, about 55 km from Rourkela, on Odisha-Jharkhand border. They dragged Sindhu out of his house, beheaded him and severed his body parts at about 1 am.
Through posters left behind, one Barud Gope identifying himself as Area Commander of PLFI along with Theteitanger unit leader Sanjeet Singh claimed responsibility for the killing. Terming Sindhu as a police informer, they threatened other police informers of similar fate. Locals said Sindhu was asked for a hefty amount as extortion.
After encounter killing of PLFI local area commander Jaidhar Gope and arrest of his aide Santu Badaik on April 25 by Rourkela district police, the killing is considered a desperate attempt by the PLFI to re-establish its base in the border pockets of Sundargarh.