From Our Correspondent
TURA: The attack at the Williamnagar jail on Saturday night in which two jail staff were killed was orchestrated by the ANVC-B militant commander Singbirth N Marak alias Norok/Tengton and not the GNLA.
Police informed this on Sunday after obtaining some crucial evidences pertaining to the involvement of breakaway group of ANVC in the crime.
In the attack, an assistant jailor identified as Neil Warjri was killed and warder Sarai Singh Thabah was seriously wounded.
Sarai Singh Thabah, meanwhile, succumbed to his injuries at Tura Hospital on Sunday morning.
What has baffled the authorities is the cause of the attack on the two jail employees, Assistant jailer Neil Warjri and Warder Sarai Singh Thabah, who were dragged out and shot in the head from a close range by the militants.
The militants, led by the ANVC-B action commander Norok, entered the jail compound through a breach below the boundary wall. The eight-member group headed straight to the main jail administrative building from where they dragged out the two unarmed jail employees and executed them in cold blood.
How they were able to enter through the iron gate of the outer perimeter remains a mystery.
The lone guard on night duty at the watch tower failed to repulse the attack by the militants who opened fire in his direction from AK and Chinese rifles forcing him to take shelter.
Whom to blame?: Questions are being raised as to why the district court in Williamnagar granted bail to the ANVC-B militant commander Singbirth N Marak alias Norok/Tengton and seven others involved in the jail attack when they had only a month earlier attacked Congress leader and former minister Deborah C Marak.
The ANVC-B militant Norok was arrested from Rongjeng in December along with Noresh Sangma alias Wasa and two others for their involvement in the attack on Deborah Marak. The remaining three members were rounded up from different parts of Garo Hills soon after.
Deborah Marak was campaigning in a village near Williamnagar when the ANVC-B militants hiding in a village school opened fire in the air and surrounded her and issuing threats warning the former minister against campaigning for the upcoming polls.
It has come to light that despite opposition to the bail by the public prosecutor, the senior magistrate hearing the case granted bail to Singbirth Sangma alias Norok on January 22. Prior to that another group of ANVC-B militants including Noresh alias Wasa who were also involved in the attack were granted bail again by the district court on December 11 last year.
The opposition to the release of these hardened criminals by the prosecution bench was because of the upcoming elections and possible outbreak of violence.