From Our Correspondent
TURA: The death of a senior cadre of its group which police have claimed to be due to fratricide has been dismissed by the GNLA which maintains that it was an ‘accidental’ incident during a botched up operation against security forces.
“There is no truth in the allegation that one of our commanders was killed by another from the same organization. It is the game plan of the Meghalaya police to create confusion in the minds of the public and rift within our GNLA,” said a man claiming to be Bikdot Nikjang Marak, political secretary of the banned outfit, who called up The Shillong Times office on Thursday afternoon.
He added that reports of a clash over funds collected by the outfit were untrue.
“There is no evidence to substantiate such claims. There was no report or indication about any funds being collected or shipped by the deceased or other area commanders,” said Nikjang.
On Tuesday night the deputy area commander of
North Garo Hills, Jangson Sangma, died after he stumbled and fell on his cocked rifle that fired a round hitting him on the chest.
The militants, who included area commanders Jimmy and Pilliport, had laid an ambush for police at Wageasi village by setting a shop on fire at around 2 am.
The militants opened fire from automatic rifles on an approaching coal truck believing that police personnel were inside it following which the two occupants of the truck sustained serious injuries.
After realizing that there were no security personnel inside the truck and a strong possibility that police could be fast approaching, the militants fled into the thick jungles and it was in the melee that the loaded AK rifle of Jangson went off killing him.
Replying to allegations about GNLA army chief Sohan D Shira accumulating wealth to the tune of Rs 18-20 crore which he is said to be investing in coal, rubber and transport, the outfit’s political secretary instead blamed police for the illegal collection.
“There is no truth in the reports of our commander-in-chief is collecting huge amounts of money. Instead, everyone knows that police, particularly Dainadubi police station personnel, are heavily engaged in extortion from the passing coal trucks,” stated Bikdot Nikjang.
