Garo outfit discharges senior cadre for ‘indiscipline’
From Our Correspondent
TURA: Suspected Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militants abducted a contractor from his worksite at Haldibari village, 3 kms from Selsella on Monday afternoon while the victim was inspecting work underway on a major bridge.
A five-member armed group of GNLA militants who had lay in wait for the first class contractor, Abdul Rashid, walked up to him as he was supervising the work and demanded he accompany them. They got into the contractor’s car and drove off with him towards Selsella where they abandoned the car and marched on foot through the jungle route that leads up to Dadenggre and beyond.
Police later found the car abandoned in a deserted stretch of the Selsella road.
While the needle of suspicion points towards the GNLA, the involvement and assistance of ULFA militants have not been ruled out either.
Police sources reveal that the group which took away the contractor was of mixed ethnicity.
Cadre discharged: Meanwhile, term it either a publicity stunt or a well orchestrated move to show itself in good light the GNLA has discharged one of its senior cadres over what it terms as ‘indiscipline’ after the militant was reportedly caught twice in an indecent act.
The GNLA’s deputy commander-in-chief Toding Ch Marak said senior cadre Kodilok R Sangma alias Kocheng Sangma was given a harsh physical punishment before being discharged in ‘disgrace’ for his alleged acts that went against the ‘doctrine’ of GNLA.
“Kocheng was caught twice with different women even after he had been warned. Since he refused to listen court martial was initiated against him and he was given a month of hard labour, 15 days of continuous night duty and 150 lashes on his body before his discharge,” said the Deputy army chief of GNLA.
Police sources have also indicated that intelligence have picked up loose talk within GNLA circles about a senior militant being downgraded.
“Unlike the ANVC which kill any member who strays or wishes to return home, our organization has strict rules which we do not break. Anyone who violates the code is punished and discharged,” claims the militant leader.
The discharged cadre belonged to the second match of trained militants. During the early part of the year he was sent to keep guard over Jarongpang R Sangma who had sustained bullet injuries in a firefight in West Khasi Hills. According to Toding Marak the cadre was caught violating the outfit’s rules and later committed the same mistake once again.
After the death of Jarongpang in the Bolkingre SWAT attack outside Williamnagar this month which also lead to the death of another deputy army chief Roster Marak and two others, Kodilok was moved out to one of the outfit’s camps for the punishment drill