By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) chief Champion Sangma, who was arrested on July 30, will be produced in court on Sunday.
Champion was arrested hours after being pushed back by Bangladeshi authorities.
The court initially remanded him to 14-day police custody, which was further extended for another 15 days.
The remand was extended as the police wanted his custody for further interrogation. “We did not object to the Court’s extension for fifteen days’ police custody since my client wanted to cooperate with the investigation,” Champion’s legal counsel Sujit Dey had said.
The arrest memo mentions that he was produced in the court within 12 hours of his arrest, while there are also allegations that he was apparently interrogated by some unidentified persons.
Champion’s counsel had handed over a two-page written argument to the judge informing that interrogators violated the Supreme Court guidelines, with regards to his client, as laid down in DK Basu versus the State of West Bengal by not disclosing their identity during interrogation.
The GNLA chief is wanted by police for masterminding several crimes, including killings and extortion in insurgency-ravaged Garo Hills. He has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Under the Act, an accused can be held without any charge being brought against him for as long as 180 days. Champion has already been remanded for 30 days in police custody.
During the course of police remand, Champion’s lawyer had said his client has asked him to discuss with the government the possibility of starting talks with the outfit.