4 PLFI rebels plotting bank heist arrested

Gumla: Four PLFI operatives were arrested by Lohardaga police from a place near a roadside dhaba along the Lohardaga-Ranchi road under Kuru police station on Tuesday evening, police said on Wednesday. The operatives were planning to commit a bank robbery in Simdega district. Three firearms and two motorcycles were seized from them. The arrested were identified as Sonu Ansari, Vikas Oraon, Bharat Baitha and Prakash Chaubey, all from Ranchi district.
Lohardaga SP Priyanka Meena said, “We got a tip-off that some suspicious persons with firearms were spotted near a dhaba on the Lohardaga-Ranchi road. A police team led by Lohardaga SDPO Vashisht Narayan Singh was set up to nab them.”
Meena said they seized a 9mm pistol with two bullets, two country-made pistols, five .315 bore live cartridges, two motorcycles and one mobile phone from their possession.
“All of them were jailed in the past on charges of murder, loot, extortion and under sections of the Arms Act. They have been active members of the outlawed PLFI for the last two to three years,” she said. After coming out of jail, they started working with PLFI commander Pune Oraon who was killed in an encounter in the past.