SAA event in Jharkhand, Sanga village under Bandgaon Police Station limits in West Singhbhum District area, India on Thu 14th July 2022

A ‘zonal commander’ of the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), identified as Santosh Kandulana (25) was arrested following an encounter at Sanga village under Bandgaon Police Station limits in West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand on July 14, reports The Hindu Business Line. Acting on intelligence inputs, a joint team arrested Kandulana while he was on a visit to his in laws house at Sanga village on July 14. Kandulana opened fire in an attempt to flee, following which the team retaliated and eventually as the area was cordoned off, he was arrested. An AK-47 rifle, two AK-47 magazines, 103 live cartridges, PLFI receipt book, two touchscreen and 6 keypad mobiles, 5 SIM cards, pied pouches, black colored carry bags and items of daily use were among the items seized from his possession. Superintendent of Police (SP), Ashutosh Shekhar said, Kandulana, has been associated with the splinter Maoist group for the past 10 years, carried a bounty of INR 200,000, and has 33 cases, including six murders and 16 attempts to murders, registered against him in West Singhbhum and Khunti Districts.