Nabbed Naxal supremo Dinesh Gope's disclosure leads NIA to seize cache of arms delivered in Bihar 2 years ago

The seizure includes, "1,245 rounds of 7.62 MM and 271 rounds of 5.56 MM ammunition", said the NIA on Saturday, adding the ammunition was seized from a dense forest in Kamdara area of Jharkhand's Gumla district on Friday in the PLFI terror funding case.

"The seized ammunition was received at Siksohara, Nalanda (Bihar) about two years ago. It had been carefully stashed away for eventual delivery to PLFI operatives and cadres for carrying acts of terror and violence," said the NIA.

Gope, who was arrested on May 21 and is currently in NIA custody, led the NIA team to the place of concealment of ammunition located in the forest during investigations.

Gope alias Kuldeep Yadav alias Badku of Khunti district in Jharkhand was earlier chargesheeted by the NIA in a case relating to the recovery of demonetized currency of Rs 25.38 lakhs from the operatives of PLFI (People's Liberation Front of India-- a proscribed Naxal outfit of Jharkhand.

Gope had been absconding and was finally nabbed by the NIA from New Delhi on May 21.

According to NIA investigations, more than 102 criminal cases are registered against the accused Gope in different districts of Jharkhand. Most of these cases relate to abduction, threats, extortion, murder and raising funds for PLFI, a militant Maoist outfit formed in 2007 in Jharkhand and also a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

NIA had also declared a reward of Rs 5 lakh for leads on Gope, in addition to the reward of Rs 25 lakh announced by the Jharkhand Government.

On February 3, 2022, an encounter had taken place between a Gope-led PLFI squad and security personnel in the forest area under the Gudri Police station of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

"Several rounds were fired in the encounter before the rebels sneaked into the forest and Gope managed to escape. He had been absconding since then, and had been taking shelter at different places while making all efforts to re-establish the PLFI's stronghold in Jharkhand," NIA remarked

Gope used to extort money and execute attacks through his PLFI team members to terrorize businessmen, contractors and the public at large, the NIA investigations have shown.

The accused, along with his associates, was involved in depositing the demonetized currency in a bank account at a Petrol Pump, to be later collected through levy and extortion.

"The illegal money was then invested through banking channels and dubious shell companies in the name of close associates and family members of the accused Gope.

The case was initially registered on November 10, 2016, at Bero Police Station in Ranchi, and re-registered by the NIA on January 19, 2018. The Police had filed the first chargesheet against four persons on January 9, 2017.

The NIA filed the first supplementary chargesheet in the case against 11 accused, including Gope.

Subsequently, the NIA filed the second supplementary chargesheet in the case on July 23 last year against five individuals and three private limited companies.

NIA had also attached 14 bank accounts and seized two cars from an accused Shakuntala Kumari, along with some property and cash, in the case.

Known previously as Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), PLFI has been responsible for hundreds of terror incidents in Jharkhand, including several murders using firearms, as per the NIA investigations. The outfit used to lure unemployed youth by providing them with motorbikes, mobile phones and easy money.

Extortion is PLFI's major source of income and the outfit has been targeting coal traders, railway contractors and various private entities involved in developmental projects in various districts of Jharkhand, said the NIA, adding "The Naxal outfit had also formed networks and alliances with different criminal gangs to spread their criminal activities and executed several incidents of murder and arson in Jharkhand."

Gope was part of a criminal conspiracy to channelize the extorted funds collected from the contractors/businessmen engaged in the developmental projects in Jharkhand.

"Gope was involved in investing these funds in dubious Shell Companies like Palak Enterprises, Shiv Adi Shakti, Shiv Shakti Samridhi Infra Pvt Ltd, Bhavya Engicon, formed in partnership with PLFI associates and his family members. The extorted money was also being transferred from Jharkhand to other places through a network of Hawala operators," stated NIA.

In July 2007, Masi Charan Purty, a renegade of the CPI-Maoist, along with several of his followers, joined Gope in order to raise PLFI as a Naxal outfit.

"Though Masi Charan Purty was subsequently arrested, the PLFI spread its activities under Gope's command. He used to collect huge amounts of extortion money, which was further used to procure sophisticated weapons, including AK 47 and foreign-made Rifles such as HK 33," added the agency. (ANI)