Claiming to be working in line with Maoists, PLFI had of late unleashed a reign of terror in Sundargarh district and their arrest yesterday could curb the crimes to some extent, they said.
Acting on a tip off, a special police squad intercepted four youths riding two motorbikes from Nuagaon to Hurda in neighbouring Jharkhand.
As the youths fired, the police retaliated and nabbed two of them while the other two fled, they said adding one of the two is a minor.
A country-made gun, ammunition, leaflets of PLFI, garments, two mobile sets, two SIM cards and a motorcycle bearing Jhraknad registration were seized from them.
In another case, the police cracked a robbery in a petrol pump at Kuanrmunda with the arrest of PLFI's Bishnu Sao alias Karan (22) of Khunti in Jharkhand who carried a reward of Rs one lakh on his head in the neighbouring state.
Four PLFI men were arrested and two country-made pistols, two ammunition, one mobile phone and a bike recovered from them by a police team in Kansbahal.
In yet another breakthrough, police cracked the murder of contractor and local BJD leader Hardeep Singh at Bileigarh on July 7 and arrested five accused persons belonging to PLFI, he said.