NEW DELHI: The NIA arrested two individuals on Friday and seized an Indian Army uniform, along with arms, ammunition, incriminating devices, documents, cash, and jewelry during raids across four states in a People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) extortion and levy collection case.
The arrested individuals, identified as Raman Kumar Sonu alias Sonu Pandit of Bihar and Nivesh Kumar of the south-west district of Delhi, were named in the FIR registered by the NIA earlier this year in connection with extortion by the leaders, cadres, and sympathizers of PLFI.
According to an NIA official, the accused and suspects were all cadres and sympathizers of PLFI, a banned terror outfit in Jharkhand. “They’re involved in a conspiracy to carry out violent acts and commit terrorist activities,” the official said.
During the raids, a total of 23 locations connected with the banned outfit and the accused were searched across Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and New Delhi. These included 19 locations in Jharkhand (Gumla, Ranchi, Khunti, Simdega, Palamu, & West Singhbhum districts), one location each in Bihar (Patna district) and Madhya Pradesh (Siddhi district), and two locations in Delhi.
The NIA lodged the case suo moto on October 11, 2023, under various sections of IPC and UA(P) Act, 1967, following information about financing terror activities through extortion by PLFI. The NIA stated that, so far, its probes have revealed that PLFI cadres were involved in generating funds through extortion from coal traders, transporters, railway contractors, and businessmen in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. “They also planned to attack security forces,” the official said.