Garo Hills unrest
TURA: The bullet ridden bodies of three civilians who were executed in cold blood by Garo militants on Monday have been retrieved by police from the upper ridges of Nokrek national park in West Garo Hills after an extensive search of the area by security forces for three days.
Police were able to locate the site of the execution after the lone survivor of the killing, Manseng N Sangma, led police teams to the area on Thursday afternoon.
The bullet ridden bodies of MeECL contractor Rutherford R Marak and two other victims were found in a decomposed state next to a stream between Daribokgre and Sakalgre village of Nokrek close to the border with East Garo Hills District shortly before 4 pm. Each of the bodies bore multiple bullet injuries.
Interestingly, only two of the victims had their hands tied behind their backs at the time of the execution while Rutherford Marak’s hands were free. They were made to kneel down before their execution, it was found during the investigation of the site.
One of the victims has been identified as Semington M Sangma, accountant of All Saloon Association of Tura. He hailed from Allotgre locality of Tura. His identity was ascertained from an identity card retrieved from his body.
FIR filed by contractor’s wife; survivor prime suspect
Meanwhile, the wife of Rutherford R Marak has filed an FIR on the abduction and killing of her husband by militants even as police are filing a suo moto case over the execution with the prime suspect being Manseng N Sangma, the lone survivor.
West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kr Singh while speaking to The Shillong Times said that police would be filing a suo moto case leading to the incident and revealed that there are a lot of unanswered questions.
A source in Tura Police said that evidence indicates that Rutherford Marak was a pre-determined target of the killers.
“The fact that the kidnappers demanded ten lakh rupees each from the victims but refused to allow them to arrange the money through communication with their families indicate that they had an ulterior motive,” said the source.