South Asia Terrorism Portal
Jharkhand: PLFI: Declining Impact Deepak Kumar Nayak Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On May 28, 2020, three People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) cadres, including a woman, were killed during an encounter with Security Forces (SFs) in the hilly terrain of Manmaru forest within the Tebo Police Station limits in West Singhbhum District. The slain cadres were identified as Patras (40), Dadu Nag aka Champa da (30) and his 26-year-old wife (name not available). Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Kolhan range, disclosed, “An unidentified cadre who sustained injuries in the gunfight has been admitted to the government hospital in Chakradharpur while a fifth rebel, identified as Manoj, has been arrested.” SFs also recovered one AK-47 rifle, live cartridges, explosives and Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] literature from the encounter site. PLFI is a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).
On May 17, 2020, a PLFI cadre was killed in an exchange of fire with SFs in a forested area near Benduchuan village in the Jaldega Police Station limits in Simdega District. The identity of the slain cadre is yet to be ascertained. Sanjeev Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), stated, “One PLFI cadre has been gunned down by the STF while another member of the group, who claims himself as ‘area commander’ of Bano area in Simdega, Praveen Kandulna, has received serious bullet injuries and has been rushed to the hospital.” Police added that five other cadres were also arrested. Their identities are being ascertained. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered.
On May 6, 2020, a tribal woman, Vinita Oraon, killed a PLFI ‘area commander’, identified as Basant Gope, in a bid to protect her family from a group of rebels at Brinda village in Gumla District. According to the Police, as many as six armed PLFI leaders barged into Oraon’s house and reportedly started manhandling members of her family. Vinita attacked them with a sickle in an act of self-defence. The rebels fled after one of them – the deceased ‘area commander’– sustained injuries. SP Hrudeep P. Janardhanan later disclosed, “The insurgent, who was stabbed, sustained severe injuries. We found his body at a nearby forest during search operations.”
According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), SFs in the State have eliminated another four PLFI cadres in the current year (data till May 31, 2020). During the corresponding period of 2019, SFs had eliminated at least 10 PLFI cadres. No other PLFI cadre was killed by the SFs during the remaining period of 2019. Significantly, at least 55 PLFI cadres have been eliminated in the State by SFs since 2007, when PLFI was formed. During this period, another 16 PLFI cadres were killed by the Maoists in six fratricidal clashes.Further, 18 PLFI cadres were killed by civilians in nine incidents. Thus, the PLFI has a lost a total of 89 cadres during this period. At least 533 PLFI cadres have been arrested since 2007, including 10 in the current year. 30 PLFI cadres have surrendered since the formation of the group.
PLFI-linked Fatalities in Jharkhand: 2007*-2020**
Year
Civilians
SFs
PLFI Cadres
NS
Total
2007
0
2008
1
2
2009
4
15
20
2010
8
10
2011
18
2012
16
6
23
2013
11
29
2014
14
3
5
22
2015
2016
28
2017
7
9
2018
2019
12
2020
106
89
202
PLFI was formed in 2007 Reports indicate that Dinesh Gope, founder and current ‘chief’ of the outfit, a renegade Border Security Force (BSF) trooper, was the younger brother of Suresh Gope, a petty criminal who operated in areas around Ranchi. Suresh had a rivalry with another gangster, Jayanath Sahu aka Samrat, principally over collecting ‘levies’ (extortion revenues) and expanding turf. Suresh was killed in an encounter with the Jharkhand Police on December 22, 2003, when he had gone to collect ‘levy’. Dinesh took charge of the gang and worked to extend its area of operation. The gang was initially named the Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT) in September 2004. Later, in July 2007, Masih Charan Purti aka Masih Charan Munda, a renegade senior CPI-Maoist ‘commander’, defected with several of his ‘followers’ and joined Dinesh Gope. While Masih was being hunted by the Maoists, Dinesh was looking for ways to out-gun Jayanath due to the continued rivalry. It was a win-win proposition and Masih Charan and Dinesh joined hands to create PLFI. Masih Charan created the rudimentary structure of the outfit, even as PLFI declared itself a sworn enemy of CPI-Maoist. Though Masih Charan was arrested a year later, in 2008, PLFI continued to grow under Dinesh’s leadership. Other Maoist cadres who walked out of the parent outfit also joined the group.
The armed strength of the group, according to estimates, has fluctuated between 150 to 300 cadres depending on SF pressure. According to an August 19, 2013, report, Jharkhand State Police under its ‘PLFI Action Plan’, had conducted a survey on the cadre strength of the outfit, and found that there were 264 PLFI cadres across Jharkhand – 82 in Ranchi, 55 in Khunti, 44 in Simdega, 44 in Chatra, 17 in Gumla, 14 in Palamu, five in Lohardaga and three in Latehar Districts. No subsequent official figures are available regarding current strength. Compounding the problem is the fact that virtually all petty criminals operating in the area project themselves as PLFI cadres. The outfit functions through several ‘area commanders’ across an area of operation principally extending across Ranchi, Khunti, Simdega, Gumla, Latehar, Chatra and Palamu.
In the meanwhile, Masih Charan fought the 2009 Assembly Elections from jail and there on followed his political path, consolidating links with the mafia and politicians. Though he ended a runner up in the elections, his influence has slowly increased, as money power attracted cadres as well as political patronage. The backing of the mafia purchased a measure of Police complicity, making PLFI the most prominent extremist group in Khunti and the adjoining region. Unemployed youth were lured into the group with the promise of easy money. As SAIR noted earlier, “the State Government has also been instrumental in sustaining PLFI during its initial days, using it to counter the CPI-Maoist. However, the strategy backfired and PLFI became one of the major LWE groups in the State.”
PLFI gradually became the second largest LWE group in Jharkhand, after CPI-Maoist. 19 Maoist splinter groups have been active in the State, each of which had broken away from the CPI-Maoist and formed independent gangs with purportedly different ideologies and purposes. Some of the other prominent splinter groups include, Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP), Jharkhand Sangharsh Jan Mukti Morcha (JSJMM), Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC), and Tritiya Prastuti Committee-1 (TPC-1), a breakaway group of TPC. PLFI is among the largest CPI-Maoist splinters in Jharkhand.
With time, PLFI’s extortion network and activities also extended into Odisha, particularly in the Sundargarh District bordering Jharkhand. On July 8, 2012, for instance, PLFI cadres shot dead Hardeep Singh, a block level politician of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), in Sundargarh. Further, the Jashpur District in Chhattisgarh, bordering the Simdega District of Jharkhand, has also witnessed PLFI activities. The group has been banned in Chhattisgarh since May 26, 2012. Commenting on the PLFI’s style of functioning, former Jharkhand Police spokesperson S. N. Pradhan stated, on August 7, 2013, “PLFI is a purely money-minting gang with no ideology or fundamentals."
However, the outfit’s ‘operational capacity’ in the State has suffered during the last few years due to SF operational successes on the ground. In eight years between 2007 and 2014, the outfit lost 42 cadres, i.e. 5.25 cadres per year. Over the succeeding five years and more since 2015, it has lost 47 cadres, more than half of the total fatalities suffered by it, i.e. 8.54 fatalities per year. While these numbers seem low, the losses have been devastating for what is essentially a small criminal gang.
On the other hand, between 2007 and 2014, the outfit killed 79 civilians, i.e. 9.87 civilians per year. Since 2015, it has killed 27 civilians, i.e. 4.90 civilians per year.
The PLFI is currently involved in efforts to regain strength and relentlessly enrich its coffers through extortion. On February 15, 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a press release stated that it had filed the first charge sheet filed in the case against the PLFI (RC-13/19/NIA/DLI) on February 14, 2020. The release noted,
The case pertains to an incident on December 3, 2018, in which PLFI cadres had gathered in the Titir Mahua Forest area of Balubhang in Latehar District and were conspiring to conduct unlawful activities. On the basis of credible information, a raid was conducted and four accused were arrested along with foreign made arms and ammunition. The case was first registered by the local police on the same day, and by NIA on February 26, 2019.
Earlier, on October 22, 2019, an NIA press release stated that it had filed another charge sheet (RC- 02/2018/NIA/DLI) on October 21. The release noted that during investigation it was established that a criminal conspiracy was hatched relating to channelizing of the extorted levy amount collected from the contractors/businessmen engaged in the developmental projects in Jharkhand and investing these funds into dubious shell companies formed with the partnership of PLFI associates and family members of Dinesh Gope. INR 2.5 million in cash which was being deposited in State Bank of India (SBI), Branch Bero, Ranchi had been seized by the Police on November 10, 2016. A case was registered by the local Police on the same day, and by NIA on January 19, 2018.
As PLFI is primarily a criminal group, it deliberately avoids direct engagement with the SFs, but continues with its criminal activities and efforts to extend influence and areas of operation. Indeed, PLFI’s areas of operation are among the country’s worst crime afflicted Districts. It is, consequently, imperative that the momentum of SF operations is maintained, till this group is entirely neutralized.
JMB: Threat Controlled Ajit Kumar Singh Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On May 29, 2020, Abdul Karim, a top leader of the Bangladesh-based terror group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), was arrested from Jangipuar in the Murshidabad District of West Bengal in India. "He is one of the top JMB operatives in India. We had been looking for him for quite some time," an unnamed Police officer stated.
Karim was reportedly involved in a case relating to recovery and explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) near Kalachakra Maidan in Bodhgaya in the Gaya District of Bihar on January 19, 2018. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which registered the case on February 3, 2018, filed a charge sheet on September 27, 2018, against three accused. In the supplementary charge sheet filed on January 28, 2019, the NIA included the names of another five accused, including Karim.
Investigation in the case by the NIA have revealed:
A JMB militant was arrested on March 18, 2020, from Raghna village in North Tripura District in Tripura. The arrestee was identified as Abdul Malik. Police stated that “during preliminary interrogation by the police and intelligence officials, the JMB cadre confessed that he is a Bangladeshi national and settled in India with fake documents.”
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since the October 2, 2014, Burdwan Blast, the Security Forces (SFs) have arrested at least 96 JMB cadres in 62 incidents of arrest from across India. 11 JMB cadres were arrested (six incidents) in 2014, 19 (13 incidents) in 2015, 27 (12 incidents) in 2016, one (one incident) in 2017, eight (six incidents) in 2018, 28 (22 incidents) in 2019, and two (two incidents) in 2020 (data till May 29, 2020).
The JMB came under the scanner of India’s security establishment more prominently subsequent to the October 2, 2014, blast in a rented house at Khagragarh in Burdwan in West Bengal. Two persons were killed and another was injured in the incident. It was found that those killed and injured and others who were present in the house were JMB cadres.
A case was registered by the Burdwan Police on the same day. The NIA took over the case on October 10, 2014. So far it has filed one charge sheet and three supplementary charge sheets against a total of 22 persons in the case. The NIA investigations, inter alia, have also revealed that
The NIA took over three JMB-linked cases in 2019. These include:
On April 3, 2020, the NIA filed its first supplementary charge sheet in the Barpeta case. According to an NIA release:
Earlier, on January 1, 2020, the NIA had filed the charge sheet in the case.
In between, on February 18, 2020, the NIA filed a charge sheet in the Bengaluru (Karnataka) JMB Module Case. In a release dated February 18, 2020, the NIA stated,
Since 2014, JMB has been making all efforts to create trouble in India has become more relentless in its approach in recent years. Concerned over these developments, the Government of India banned JMB in May 2019. A press release dated May 24, 2019, stated,
According to the notification, the JMB had plans for
Later, on October 12, 2019, raising concern over the outfit’s activities in India, NIA chief Y.C. Modi said JMB had spread its activities in Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala as well, in the guise of Bangladeshi immigrants, adding, "The NIA has shared with states concerned a list of 125 suspected activists who have close links with the JMB leadership." On the same day, Alok Mittal, Inspector General, NIA, disclosed that JMB had started its activities in India, first in 2007, initially in West Bengal and Assam, and then in other parts of the country. He added, further, that from 2014 to 2018, JMB had set up 20-22 hideouts in Bengaluru and tried to spread its bases in South India.
The SFs have so far been able to thwart all attempts by JMB to make any major inroads in India. However, continuing efforts will be needed on the ground to destroy the remaining active cells of the group, to ensure that it fails in its efforts to cause disruption in India at any point in the future.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia May 25-31, 2020
Security Force Personnel
Terrorists/Insurgents
INDIA
Jammu and Kashmir
INDIA (Left-Wing Extremism)
Jharkhand
INDIA (Total)
PAKISTAN
KP
Islamabad Capital Territory
PAKISTAN (Total)
Afghan Government release of Taliban will continue, says National Security Council: The Afghan Government will continue the release of Taliban prisoners to begin intra-Afghan negotiations and to help the announced reduction in violence go on, said the National Security Council on May 31. President Ashraf Ghani on May 24 pledged to release 2,000 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture in response to the Eid ceasefire announced by the Taliban. So far, the Government has released 1,700 detainees of this latest pledged tranche, bringing the total number of Taliban released to 2,700. Tolo News, June 1, 2020.
US, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan agree to expand cooperation in political, security and human development matters: Senior officials from Afghanistan, the United States (US) and Uzbekistan on May 27, held a virtual meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, and the three pledged to work together and address mutual issues of concern including political ties, security and economic and human development matters. The meeting was co-chaired by American Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar, and Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov. Tolo News, May 29, 2020.
US President Donald Trump considering full Troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: The United States (US) President Donald Trump on May 26 at a White House news conference renewed his desire for a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, President Donald Trump added that he had not set a target date, amid speculation he might make ending America's longest war part of his re-election campaign. "We're there 19 years and, yeah, I think that's enough... We can always go back if we want to," said Trump. Tolo News, May 27, 2020.
Peace negotiation team says it is ready for Intra-Afghan dialogue: On May 24, members of the Afghan peace negotiation team said that they have completed their internal group discussion on the peace process and the team is ready to start peace negotiation talks with the Taliban. The members said that there is a historic opportunity for peace and the Taliban must not miss the chance for seizing it. Tolo News, May 27, 2020.
UN experts call Bangladesh Government to stop persecution of journalist: The United Nations (UN) experts on May 26 called on the Bangladesh Government to stop the ongoing persecution of journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol and expressed concern about his previous suspected enforced disappearance. They warned that his detention and the ongoing criminal cases against him compound fears that Bangladesh was using the Digital Security Act to stifle free speech, according to a release issued by the UN Human Rights office in Geneva. New Age , May 28, 2020.
NSCN-IM Ceasefire extends beyond Nagaland, states UNC: United Naga Council (UNC) has reiterated that the jurisdiction of Indo-Naga ceasefire covers "all Naga areas". UNC is the apex body of nagas in Manipur. UNC stated that "It is a matter of mutual understanding between the Government of India and NSCN that the jurisdiction of Indo-Naga ceasefire covers all Naga areas, and is never confined to certain areas as interpreted by certain groups with vested interests". EPAO, May 26, 2020.
Zakir Naik received funds from Gulf countries, according to report: Zakir Naik, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for money laundering, has received crores of funds from Gulf countries. Indian agencies have been pursuing Naik, who is currently based in Malaysia, also for delivering hate speeches allegedly used to incite terror activities. Zee News, May 25, 2020.
NHRC expresses concern about arbitrary and frequent arrests of CPN-Maoist-Chand leader: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issuing a press statement on May 30 expressed serious concern about arbitrary and frequent arrests of Chakra Bahadur Khatri of Khotang District, a leader of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Chand). The rights body said the Government was responsible for making the condition of Khatri unknown even to his family, meting out inhumane treatment to him and refusing to abide by frequent orders of the Supreme Court. The Himalayan Times, June 1, 2020.
Prime Minister avoids NCP Secretariat meeting on MCC: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli did not attend a meeting called by the Secretariat of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on May 23 to discuss the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement and some budgetary issues. Other leaders of the nine-member secretariat discussed issues, but the meeting could not take any decision as the Prime Minister was absent. NCP is divided over MCC issues with the Prime Minister favouring ratification of the agreement and some party leaders favouring amendment to the agreement before parliamentary ratification. The Himalayan Times, May 26, 2020.
STF has major role in countering extremism and organised crimes, says Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne: Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said the Special Task Force (STF) has a major role to play in countering extremism and organised crimes. The Defence Secretary expressed these views while addressing the STF troops during his maiden visit to STF headquarters since he assumed duties as the Defence Secretary. Daily Mirror, May 29, 2020.
The South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on related economic, political, and social issues, in the South Asian region.
SAIR is a project of the Institute for Conflict Management and the South Asia Terrorism Portal
To receive FREE advance copies of SAIR by email Subscribe. Recommend South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) To A Friend