Outfit denies ties with arrested arms dealer
From Our Correspondent
TURA: Political affairs secretary of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) has said that his outfit has no links with an arms dealer who was arrested in Shillong this week and neither has any information on the whereabouts of the group’s chairman.
The militant leader called up The Shillong Times on Friday afternoon to deny his organization’s linkages with arms dealer Jackius A Sangma who was picked up from a city hotel in Shillong with four other persons.
“We do not procure arms from dealers such as Jackius and he has never been a member of our outfit. Jackius has all along been with the Liberation for Achik Elite Force (LAEF) and police ought to know that,” said Bikdot Nikjang Marak.
The militant leader, who all along had been the voice of the outfit’s ‘chairman’, has surprisingly feigned ignorance on Champion’s whereabouts.
“We cannot confirm his arrest by Bangladesh forces because we have no information on that front,” claimed the political affairs secretary.
He refused to answer to queries about two reports on the possible arrest of the GNLA ‘chairman’. One report has claimed that he was arrested from Jaintiapur town in Sylhet district while another mentions his arrest from Haluaghat border town of Mymensing district.
Interestingly, intelligence agencies from India have for long laid focus on the political secretary and GNLA champion given the two’s close ties.
Government agencies mention that the political affairs secretary has been in Bangladesh with Champion for the last several months and all press statements from the chairman has been routed through Bikdot Nikjang.
His denial of knowledge about the whereabouts of Champion in the neighbouring country are unlikely to be taken in by the security agencies who have been on the trail of the elusive militant leader for close to two years.