In a first, 3 cops injured in PLFI attack in Jharkhand

The attack comes at a time when, police say, the PLFI has taken over the CPI (Maoist) to become the largest left-wing extremist organisation in the state in terms of incidents. “The PLFI is now responsible for 36 per cent of LWE incidents; the CPI (Maoist)’s figure stands at around 33-34 per cent,” Pradhan said.

The three injured policemen — including the officer-in-charge of Murhu police station, a Jharkhand Armed Police personnel and a driver — are stated to be out of danger. An unverified number of individuals have been detained by police for questioning.

“This is a very worrying development and comes at a bad time. With elections on, the movement of troops will have to be done more carefully,” said M L Meena, Inspector General (Operations).

Pradhan said the incident was a follow up on a press statement issued by the PLFI recently. “They had put out a statement a few months back stating that they would now start targeting police. This, they said, was because police had carried out many operations against them and left them with no choice,” he said.

The PLFI, which has its presence mainly in Khunti and Gumla districts, has long left toeing the ideological line and has turned to extortionism. While they have always been careful not to engage police and concentrated on winning minor turf battles with the CPI (Maoist), an inordinate focus on the CPI (Maoist) has let them grow and has allowed them to get ambitious. Data from July 2011 to 2013 shows that while the number of incidents attributed to the CPI (Maoist) came down from 173 to 98, PLFI’s numbers went from 46 to 83.