Police gun down Maoist with Rs 15 lakh bounty on his head in Jharkhand

RANCHI: A wanted Maoist from the PLFI Zeedan Guria, who had a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, was gunned down by security forces during an encounter at Koengsar under Murhu Police Station in Khunti on Monday.

Guria was second in command after PLFI chief Dinesh Gope in the organization and had over 100 cases relating to murder, loot and extortion lodged against him in different police stations in the region.

One AK-47 rifle, several live cartridges and other articles of day to day use have also been recovered from the encounter site.

“During the search operation, as soon as the security forces reached the spot, PLFI cadres started firing on them following which they retaliated triggering an encounter during which Zeedan Guria was gunned down,” said a senior police official requesting anonymity.

According to police, the encounter took place during a search operation conducted following a tip-off that Guria was hiding in the hills of Koengsar.