4 PLFI ultras killed in police encounter in J’khand

RANCHI: Jharkhand police gunned down four Left-wing extremists (LWE) belonging to banned Maoists’ faction People Liberation Front of India (PLFI) on RanchiKhunti border on Tuesday night.

PLFI area commander Maina Gope, carrying an award of ₹2 lakh, was also killed, Khunti police said, adding that three other extremists were being identified. Maina, once a bike mechanic, hogged the limelight after killing three persons in Khunti last year.

But two of Maina’s accomplices managed to escape. A search operation has been launched to apprehend them, said Khunti SP Ashwini Kumar Sinha.

The encounter took place near Karo river bridge under Karra police station around 9pm, continuing for an hour.

Police recovered an Insas rifle, two rifles, one pistol, and around a dozen mobile phones from the incident site.

Sinha said they got a tip-off that Maina, along with his accomplices, was reaching Sardula.

Acting on the tip-off, Karra police station in-charge Uday Kumar Gupta and assistant subinspector Jawahar Choudhary, along with five armed personnel, reached the bridge.

The extremists opened indiscriminate firing as soon as they saw the approaching police personnel. Finding no other option, police also resorted to firing and killed four of them on the spot, Sinha said.

This is the second incident of extremist killing in the last two months.

Earlier, Khunti police had killed three PLFI activists, including a woman, in Lapung area, Sinha said.