RANCHI: Extremists in Jharkhand have started using social media and digital modes of payment for collecting ‘tax’ from businessmen and contractors in the state.
The arrest of three members of the banned outfit, Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), from Palamu district, 185 km from Ranchi, on Monday, has revealed that they were using WhatsApp calls to avoid police surveillance and receiving ‘tax’ online through digital platforms for payments including Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe.
The trio was identified as TSPC self-styled area commander Sambhu Singh alias Birendra ji, Mithilesh Yadav and Satyendra Singh. “A country-made pistol, an 8 mm cartridge, three smartphones, TSPC leaflets and a diary containing phone numbers of brickkiln owners were recovered from them,” said the Bishrampur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sujit Kumar.
According to the police, several evidences of using social media and digital modes of payment by extremists were found in the mobile phones seized from them. “The trio had been using WhatsApp for making threatening calls to the local businessmen and use of digital modes of payments like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm for receiving money from them,” said the ASP (Ops) Rishabh Garg.
Similar trends were also seen in the other splinter groups of CPI (Maoists), he added. We are waiting for the bank details from which the money was transferred, said the ASP. Bishrampur SDPO Sujit Kumar, under whose jurisdiction the trio was arrested, asserted that Maoists have been using UPI payment for ‘tax’ collection.
“During interrogation, it was found that transactions were done online. When we asked them, they admitted that they had been receiving levy money online as there always is a chance of being caught if they did it physically,” said the Sub-Divisional Police Officer.