Ranchi Police today arrested four Maoists accused of demanding a levy of ₹1 crore from an employee of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL).
The arrested Maoists have been identified as Yogendra Ganjhu alias Pawan Ganjhu, Mukesh Ganjhu (both from Latehar), Mannu Ganjhu (from McCluskieganj), and Rajkumar Nahak (from Khalari).
Ranchi SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha said the extortion threat was made on 25 June in the name of a Maoist member, Manoj, from the Koyal Shankh Zone Committee.
The accused had threatened to kill the employee if the money was not paid by 2 July. Following a complaint, an FIR was lodged at Khalari police station.
A special police team received intelligence about the Maoists’ movements near Bakshi Bangla Chatti River. The group was reportedly planning to extort money from local contractors, traders and brick kiln owners.
During a swift raid, four Maoists were arrested, and a country-made pistol, three live rounds, mobile phones and CPI Maoist letterheads were recovered.
The SSP revealed that Yogendra Ganjhu had been associated with the CPI Maoist since 2006. He rose to become area commander and later sub-zonal commander of Garu-Sarju.
After multiple arrests and stints in prison, he had been inactive since 2022. However, due to the declining influence of zonal commander Ravindra Ganjhu, Yogendra, along with the others, attempted to revive Maoist activities by threatening local businessmen and extorting money.
Yogendra was also involved in several violent encounters with the police. In a particularly gruesome incident, he helped implant a bomb in the body of a deceased policeman on the orders of a senior Maoist leader, ‘Arvind ji’.
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