Ranchi, Aug 20 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Dinesh Gop, the jailed chief of the banned Maoist outfit People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), in connection with a money laundering case.

The ED had earlier registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Gop under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was produced before the court via video conferencing on Wednesday and sent to 14 days’ judicial custody in the case.

A dreaded Maoist leader, Gop, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Nepal on May 21, 2023, in a terror funding case. Before his capture, the Jharkhand government had announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh, while the NIA had declared a Rs 5 lakh reward for information leading to his arrest. He is currently lodged in Palamu Central Jail.

According to ED officials, Gop was interrogated for two days in July 2023, during which he admitted to extortion and levying money through shell companies run by his close aides and family members.

Investigations revealed that Gop laundered several crores through entities such as Bhavya Engikan Pvt Ltd, Shiv Shakti Minerals Pvt Ltd, Shakti Samriddhi Infra Pvt Ltd, and Palak Enterprises, which were being operated by his wives Shakuntala Devi and Geeta, along with associate Sumant Kumar.

The probe further found that the NIA had seized Rs 19.93 lakh from the bank accounts of his wives and detected transactions worth over Rs 2.5 crore across more than two dozen accounts. In addition, a flat in Ranchi and a residence in Edalhatu, valued at nearly Rs 1 crore, were attached.

The money-laundering trail dates back to a 2018 FIR registered at Bedo police station, Ranchi, where investigators discovered that after the November 2016 demonetisation, Gop’s associate was caught attempting to deposit Rs 25.38 lakh in scrapped currency notes.

The ED is now expanding its probe to map Gop’s levy-extortion network, financial conduits, and investment channels across Jharkhand and neighbouring states.

–IANS

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