From Our Correspondent
TURA: An attempt to extort hard currency from a local coal baron of Garo Hills by Rabha dacoits was successfully foiled by East Garo Hills police who managed to nab two of the prime suspects from the Assam-Meghalaya border near Bajengdoba on Monday afternoon.
The extortionists, who were posing as GNLA militants, had demanded five lakh rupees from a coal baron, Lawin G Marak of New Gabil village, who had business interests in the coal belt of Nangalbibra in South Garo Hills.
The extortionists’ modus operandi was simple — they first enrolled as coal laborers in Nangalbibra where they got to know the activities of the coal barons and their telephone numbers. The extortionists’ would then make a call for the money in the name of GNLA.
Police teams from Songsak and Mendipather police stations zeroed in on the gang after it was found that the demands were being made from neighbouring Assam’s Goalpara district in close proximity to Bajengdoba.
The criminals ordered the coal baron to transport the extortion money, which had been scaled down from five lakhs to fifty thousand, to a secluded spot between Bajengdoba in Garo Hills to Paikan area of Goalpara in Assam.
A special team of police commandos from Garo Hills raided the spot and managed to nab the kingpins Parimal Rabha (21) of Kuthipara village in Goalpara and Kamaleshwar Rabha of Sellapara village under Krishnai police station.
Both the criminals were caught at Darakona village on the inter-state border near Bajengdoba while waiting to collect the extortion money from their victim.
One of the criminals identified as Boluram Rabha of Bordak village under Goalpara police station managed to escape the police dragnet during the operation.
