Ranchi Police foil Naxal plan to steal petrol from pipeline

Those arrested admitted that they had been hired by Gope with the intention of making money by stealing petrol from the pipeline in Khunti and selling it in the black market.
For representational purposes. (File | AFP)
For representational purposes. (File | AFP)

RANCHI: After Jharkhand Police started taking measures to check the flow of funds to Naxal outfits through levy collection and other illegal sources, the rebels have started finding other ways to make money to run their organisation.

To choke the funds supply of Naxal organisations in the state, Jharkhand Police have seized properties worth several crore rupees of over two dozen Maoists. But they were surprised when they found out that PLFI chief Dinesh Gope had been trying to hire people from Delhi and Bihar who are skilled in stealing petrol from pipelines.

The nefarious design was disclosed after Ranchi police arrested seven persons from a hotel along with tools for cutting pipes, following information from the special branch that some persons had arrived here and would soon be received by the PLFI cadres.

Those arrested admitted that they had been hired by Gope with the intention of making money by stealing petrol from the pipeline in Khunti and selling it in the black market.

“The PLFI is an extortionist group always on the lookout for the possibility of extortion or anything like that so that they can get money. In this case also prima facie it appears that they were up to executing a nefarious plan to make money through a different source after their properties were seized to check the flow of funds to run their organizations,” said IG (Operations) and Jharkhand Police spokesperson Ashish Batra.

Further investigations are being done to find out the details of the matter, he added.

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