Migrant worker arrested after ‘brief stint with PLFI’

Gumla: A migrant worker, who returned to his village in Gumla district from Surat in Gujarat last month, joined Peoples’ Liberation Front of India (PLFI), an outlawed splinter group of the CPI (Maoist), only to be arrested by the police after a brief gunfight on Friday. Police said Vishal Kumar Sinha, a resident of Palkot’s Bazar Tand area, was lured into the rebel outfit by its self-acclaimed sub-zonal commander Parameshwar Gope.
Gope’s squad, which Sinha was accompanying, exchanged fire with the police in Dombatoli forest around 10am, sources said. SP Hrudeep P Janaradhan said: “One PLFI member was injured in the exchange of fire and was arrested. Search operation is going in the area.”
Sinha, the son of former army man, suffered two bullet injuries on his legs and was taken to Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) after initial medical treatment at Gumla sadar hospital. Dismissing the charges against him, Sinha said Gope was his friend and he had stayed with him just for one night.
Sinha returned home on a Shramik special on May 26 and was put under institutional quarantine for 14 days. Palkot BDO Shankar Ekka said: “His samples were collected tested negative on June 6 and he was allowed to leave on June 8.”