By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: A former rebel commander of the ANVC-B has revealed that he was witness to the handing over of three sophisticated weapons to the organization by Meghalaya Police in East Garo Hills District several months ago to take on the banned GNLA outfit.
The ‘commander-in-chief’ of the new Garo rebel outfit United A’chik Liberation Army (UALA), Singbirth Marak alias Norrok X Momin has dared Meghalaya Police and the ANVC-B leadership to prove their innocence into the alleged allegiance.
“Then Circle Inspector of Williamnagar, TC Chacko, had handed over two AK-56 and one AK-47 rifles to Rimpu Marak when he was part of the main ANVC and we were witness to it. Chacko later got promoted as DSP of Nongstoin. These weapons were then handed over to ANVC-B ‘commander-in-chief’ Mukosh and remains with him in Moskhoila area,” revealed Norrok X Momin in an exclusive statement to The Shillong Times.
He also said that the entire dealing had the ‘blessings’ of the government which focused on eliminating the GNLA while on the other hand allowed the ANVC-B to thrive by indulging in extortion that continues to this day.
He questioned the role of the Meghalaya Government and the State Police in allowing the ANVC-B militants to operate freely without any restrictions and claim that the organization is involved in a string of illegal extortion rackets in Tura and Garobadha towns while setting up a camp at Edenbari village for young girls.
“He has put in place one cadre called Bulla Marak alias Rakchak to collect tax from traders in Garobadha town and also opened a camp for girls at Edenbari for ulterior motives,” alleged the UALA leader who has been lately a bitter critic of the ANVC-B leadership following their differences.
The ANVC-B leader Rimpu Marak had recently accused Norrok X Momin of illegal activities and since then a war of words has erupted between the two, who were once upon a time ‘comrades in arms’.