Rebel outfit, People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) pasted a poster at the heart of Lohardaga town on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, warning police informers and businessmen of dire consequences if they pass on information about the outlawed group to the cops or refuse to oblige the demands of PLFI insurgents, police said on Wednesday.

Locals found the poster at densely-populated Gudri Bazar locality of the town on Wednesday morning and subsequently informed the police. The district police acted promptly to take down the poster within minutes. However, no arrests were made in connection with the case by the time this report was filed.

The poster carried slogans in praise of the PLFI and against capitalist forces. It also urged the poor, labour class to unite against oppressive forces and threatened industrialists to face the PLFI’s wrath if they continue to exploit the poor class. Through the poster, the PLFI also asked police not to conduct fake encounters and refrain from targeting innocent villagers.

Investigating officer Mantu Kumar said that the police were scanning the CCTV footage of the area to identify the perpetrators. “The area falls under CCTV surveillance and the perpetrators will be identified and nabbed soon,” he said.

According to figures with the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 19 of 24 districts in Jharkhand including Lohardaga are LWE-affected. Apart from the main CPI (Maoist), there are at least 17 splinter outfits active in the tribal hinterland. PLFI, one of these splinter outfits, was formed by Dinesh Gope, an ex army man, in 2003.

A majority of the splinter outfits, police say, are involved in extorting money from businessmen, trafficking children and killing for sport.