RANCHI: The Jharkhand Police on Wednesday dealt a body blow to the PLFI with the arrest of three close aides of the outfit's supremo Dinesh Gope from Buxar in Bihar, an official release here said.
A huge quantity of ammunition, Rs 12.21 lakh in cash, ATM cards and pictures of sophisticated weapons were seized from their possession, indicating that they have connections with arms' supplier gangs, the release said.
Three insurgents of the outfit -- Nivesh Kumar (32), Subham Poddar (20) and Dhruv Kumar Singh (32) -- were arrested in a joint operation by the Jharkhand and Bihar Police on Tuesday.
Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Surendra Kumar said the three are close associates of Gope, and their arrest was a major achievement for the force.
Giving details of the operation, the release said Amir Chand, an accomplice of the three, was nabbed during a raid near Dhurwa dam on January 6, and sleeping bags, portable tents, PLFI pamphlets and cash of Rs 3.5 lakh were recovered from him.
Two SUVs belonging to the insurgents of PLFI, a splinter group of CPI(Maoist), were also seized.
The trio, had, however, escaped then and reportedly left for Delhi.
A subsequent raid was conducted at Nivesh Kumar's residence in Ranchi on January 9, during which the police recovered Rs 61.31 lakh in cash, a 7.65 bore open pistol and a large number of cartridges.
A tip-off that the trio was in Buxar led the Jharkhand Police to carry out a third raid on Tuesday, in association with its Bihar counterpart, and arrest Kumar, Poddar and Singh from the neighbouring state, the release said.
Meanwhile, in another operation, three prominent members of ultra outfit Trutiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), including its sub-zonal commander, have been apprehended in Hazaribag.
Led by deputy superintendent (HQ) Rajiv Kumar, security personnel conducted a raid in Bahimar forest of Hazaribag district on Tuesday and arrested three prominent activists of the TPC -- another splinter group of CPI(Maoist) -- SP Manoj Ratan Chouthe said.