GNLA releases MLA’s brother
TURA: The younger brother of the Baghmara MLA who was abducted by suspected GNLA militants from his home in Gasuapara on January 30 was released unharmed on Wednesday.
Naga Sangma, brother of MLA Samuel Sangma, arrived at his home in Gasuapara during the early morning hours of Wednesday after he was reportedly freed past midnight by his armed kidnappers.
The family has denied paying any ransom to the abductors but police sources mention that a sum of Rs 20 lakh was demanded by the GNLA for his release.
Speaking to The Shillong Times over phone from Gasuapara, Baghmara MLA Samuel Sangma expressed happiness over the safe return of his younger brother.
“He was released around 1 am but does not know the place due to the darkness. We came to know of his release only when he turned up at his home. We did not pay any ransom,” claimed the MLA.
He said that his younger brother did not know which group had abducted him and was afraid to even question them.
“All my brother knows is that the group had sufficient arms with them and kept him blindfolded. It was only during meal time was his blindfold was removed,” said the sitting legislator.
Search Operations : Meanwhile, no breakthrough has been made in the search operations taking place to locate the three abducted persons who are believed to have been shot dead by armed Garo militants on Monday afternoon.
Police teams have been scouting the Sasatgre-Chandigre region all the way up towards the Nokrek national park to identify the site where the kidnappers are reported to have killed three persons, including MeECL contractor Rutherford Marak.
The lone escapee of the ordeal was Rutherfort Marak’s friend who was left for dead by the militants after they opened fire on all four at around 1 PM of Monday.
Police teams have been trekking the vast mountainous region of Nokrek since Wednesday morning to find the site but without any success.
The survivor of the execution squad who escaped with bullet injuries is currently under medical treatment and is under police protection in a hospital.
The survivor was with the power department’s contractor when four militants, one of them armed with an AK rifle, kidnapped them from Sasatgre-Chandigre village when they had gone to inspect a power project site on Sunday morning.
They were kept tied up throughout the cold night in the dense jungle high above the mountains and on Monday morning two other civilians were brought in with their hands tied.
Later in the day, all four were lined up and executed by a ‘firing squad’ of the militants who later abandoned the site.
The lone victim who survived after a bullet grazed past his head leaving him unconscious later escaped from the site and reached civilization where he narrated his ordeal to villagers who rushed him to the nearest outpost at Rongram, 12 km from Tura.