Ranchi: Enforcement Directorate [ED] on August 20 arrested seasoned Maoist operative and supremo of proscribed People’s Liberation Front of India [PLFI], Dinesh Gope in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation.
Gope, the head of PLFI, a breakaway faction of the outlawed CPI Maoist was arrested by the National Investigation Agency [NIA] in May 2023 and was currently lodged in Palamu Central Jail.
The ED arrested him in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation related to murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and criminal activities booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Gope was produced before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court Ranchi, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days, said the agency in an official statement issued on late evening August 20.
ED, Ranchi has arrested Dinesh Gope, the Supremo of the proscribed extremist organization, People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation related to murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and criminal activities booked under…
— ED (@dir_ed) August 20, 2025
Who is Dinesh Gope
Gope, a resident of Jharkhand Khunti district is named in over 100 cases registered against him in different police stations of Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar. He is considered a seasoned Maoist who founded and led PLFI till he was arrested by NIA in 2023.
At the time of his arrest, Gope was carrying a bounty of Rs 25 lakh as announced by the government. The NIA on the other hand had also announced a reward of Rs 5 lakhs on him.
NIA registered a case against Gope in connection with seizure of Rs 25.38 lacs which was deposited in a State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Bero of Ranchi by an alleged associate of Gope in November 2016.
The agency after registering a case in 2018 had also held Hira Devi and Shakuntala Kumari, the wives of Dinesh Gope, in the case alongside attaching movable and immovable properties of Gope worth more than a crore in 2020.
As per NIA investigation, Gope along with his associates, was involved in depositing the demonetized currency in a bank account at a petrol pump, to be later collected through levy and extortion. The illegal money was then invested through banking channels and dubious shell companies in the name of close associates and family members of Gope.
ED interrogated Gope for two days following his arrest in 2023 and later registered an Enforcement Case Information Report [ECIR]. The agency is currently investigation a money laundering case against him.
People’s Liberation Front of India [PLFI]
Founded in 2007, the group [PLFI] was earlier known as Jharkhand Liberation Tiger. The proscribed group under Dinesh Gope relied heavily upon forceful collection of extortion money as levy from businessmen and groups involved in coal trading, railway and other government projects.
The outfit has been responsible for numerous cases of murder, arson, loot in the areas under their dominance.
It is worth mentioning here that the security forces in recent years in Jharkhand have managed to arrest and neutralize many top cadres of the Maoist outfits such as the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad [JJMP], Tritiye Sammelan Prastuti Committee [TSPC], PLFI and CPI Maoist.
According to Union Government latest release, only two districts West Singhbhum and Latehar are affected by Maoist terror in the state of Jharkhand with forces briskly augmenting their grip in the previous strongholds of extremists.
