From Our Correspondent
Tura: Unidentified armed men kidnapped a senior citizen overseeing the accounts of a cashew processing firm at Phulbari from near Tikrikilla in West Garo Hills on Sunday afternoon.
The accounts manager of the private firm, Tolaram Sharma, 78, was going with three others in a private car to Guwahati when they were stopped by armed men between Phulbari and Tikrikilla.
The kidnappers, said to be around five, stopped the car and pulled out Sharma before releasing the other passengers and the vehicle. They took him towards the nearby jungle and he has not been found so far.
On getting the information of his abduction police immediately swung into action and dispatched several teams to search and locate the businessman. They managed to arrest one person identified as one Manik in this connection.
The ULFA and the anti-talks faction of the NDFB regularly use the area, where the kidnapping took place, for movement and seeking shelter. The GNLA also operates in the area which has a sizeable number of local population.
‘Impostors extorting in the name of GNLA’: Meanwhile, expressing concern over extortion by various groups in the name of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), GNLA commander-in-chief Sohan D Shira has warned the impostors of grave punishments if they are caught by the outfit.
The GNLA C-in-C said there are many people or groups who are extorting money from different people in Garo Hills in the name of GNLA and mentioned that, just a few days ago, one Inspector of Schools from Dakopgre, Tura had received a note demanding an amount of Rs 30 lakh in the name of GNLA.
Shira said the GNLA impostors are serving a fake GNLA note with a forged GNLA logo on it.
However, the GNLA C-in-C informed that the outfit has now started using scented paper for their notes so that anyone can distinguish a genuine GNLA note.
Shira also revealed that on Friday last, the outfit had shot one person at Dobu, Nongalbibra in East Garo Hills because he was acting as a police informer and was also involved in various extortions in the name of GNLA.
He added that the LAEF, Area Commander, Habil T Sangma of Wadanang, Tura and his men who were caught by the police last week had been extorting money from numerous people of the region in the name of GNLA. Shira stated that, the intention of Habil T Sangma and his men was to extract as much as possible from the people so as to rebuild and strengthen LAEF.
Sohan Shira further said that, GNLA have been warning all impostors to cease taking the outfits name but it has fallen on deaf ears. He said that, now the outfit will mete out deserving punishments to them according to their offences against the GNLA.
The GNLA also mentioned that the four persons who were arrested at Resubelpara by the army and Meghalaya police on 11th July were dacoits and they are not members of the outfit.